Fighting for Acceptance
by Blade Liger Knight
Summary: To harbor such love and passion was implied as ordinary for a certain ninja from Mizuho, until the battle came that changed her outlook on the very core of these elements. Somewhere along the line we lose that, if it has nothing to be sustained. Sheelos.
1. Prologue

** - Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, or its characters, if I did, I wouldn't be so insecure about my writing.**

** - Chapter One - Prologue - **

_- Why is it, we keep fighting what's to be, when already, the world around us has accepted what is? -_

Skimming the snowy rooftops of Flanoir, Sheena tried to regain her focus, but had already failed multiple times as she noiselessly made her way over the slanted patches of snow. She didn't mean to make him feel like he was a burden, but the truth of the matter was that she couldn't handle being around him with such an important decision demanding her attention, especially since he was, in a way, indirectly involved with her decision. And his presence would more than likely shift her better judgment to favor one option over the others.

She couldn't help but think of how stubborn she must have seemed to him just then, and, as she leaped from one house to the next, she felt as though she was running away from the problem. Why did she have to be so indecisive? Dammit, why couldn't she just make a decision already!? And then, all at once, releasing a little too much anger from her enclosed reservoir of patience and making a jump, that normally, in her right state of mind, wouldn't have made without a bit more calculating, she soon found that the end result of such unbridled emotion wasn't very pretty, and anyone from her village probably would have shook their heads in shame and dishonor towards her recklessness. But before her collision, she found a bit of comfort in the fact that pain wasn't anything new to her.

* * *

"_I'm so stupid. Stubborn to the very end... I really need to start acting more feminine at times like this and let him rescue me. ...Heh, that wouldn't be my style, now, would it?" the ninja scoffed when her grip on the ledge gave out, and the sensation of gravity quickly overtook her as she kept in expectation of the imminent impact she would soon share with the ground, but it never came. It was a curious thing really, when she opened her eyes she could only wonder two things: Was she already dead? And, why did that angel resemble Zelos so much? It angered her really, it seemed as though she couldn't escape his company even in death!_

_It wasn't until she felt his arms supporting her weight in mid air that this whole "going to heaven" thing seemed to be a complete sham to her. And hearing his voice only confirmed her suspicions all the more so._

"_Hey Sheena! You know I'd be MORE than happy to see your feminine side, right?" Zelos asked her with a sly edge lining his voice._

_Her amazement quickly dissipated along with the Chosen's wings as he landed and had no intention of putting her down any time soon. That is, until a glare of a thousand knives set itself on her face as realization of previous events remained fresh in her mind._

_His grin fell away almost instantly as he knew exactly what was to follow. "N-now Sheena, hold on, let me expl- Ow! Ow! Hey, OW!" Now he was forced to put her down in order to rub his aching head._

"_You Bastard!" Sheena growled, her fists at the ready and prepared to give him more of what he deserved. "Where do you get off saving me after you betrayed us like that!? You know how much I hate traitors, Zelos!"_

"_But Sheena, I got this special ring that'll let Lloyd use the Eternal Sword, and the only way I could get my hands on it was to play along with Cruxis," he explained quickly, and flinched while holding his throbbing head in expectancy of another round of whacks; didn't she know he couldn't afford to lose any more good sense so carelessly?_

_Sheena blinked in a bit of blank amazement, leading Zelos into a comfortable sense of false hope, but like most good things, it blew up in his face. "You IDIOT! Why did you have to play the hero for?! You had us all worried, and angry, and confused!" She suddenly glared at him as though she were about to strangle him. "And we were even starting to regret ignoring you!" At this point the ninja looked as though she was about to bite his head off, that or break down in tears, Zelos decided he wasn't much in favor of either._

_This was definitely not the desired response he had been expecting. "But I don't- Wait, really?" He seemed to brighten up at her last statement and his guard began to drop. "You were," now it was gone completely as he moved closer to her, "worried about me?"_

"_No," she hissed in regard to his body language, stopping him in his tracks as she turned away to wipe any tears from her eyes that may have disobediently accumulated. "I'm not letting you get away with that tricky, comforting tactic, because I'm not falling for it, you stupid Chosen."_

_Zelos smiled wryly and, ignoring her warning, came up beside her to touch her elbow, hopeful. "Sheena, I know you're mad, but don't I deserve a reward of some kind for saving you? I at least get points for that, don't I?"_

"_No," she said stubbornly, "you break even."_

_Zelos allowed himself to pout and sigh before his mind was finally out of the gutter and back on track of the more important issues at present. "Ok, well, I'm pretty sure the rest of our merry little band will need our help from similar traps, so we should be off."_

"_Well then, on second thought," Sheena hesitantly drawled with a finger on her chin in contemplation. "I'm feeling kinda weak, so you can carry me."_

_Zelos perked up at the sound of that. "What? Really?"_

_Sheena's sudden scrutiny was promptly coupled with a malevolent grin. "Piggyback."_

"_What?" Zelos gaped, crestfallen. "Oh, that was really low, you know that?" he grumbled darkly before turning around and kneeling in preparation for her to board. "All aboard Wing Zelos!"_

"_Hey-hey, not too fast ok?" she requested, and gripped the cloth of his uniform tightly. Zelos simply flashed her a mischievous grin before lifting off the floor with a sudden lunge, leaving Sheena with a familiar curse on her mouth. "You stupid Chosen!"_

* * *

They must have seemed crazy to anyone passing by, after all, no normal Flanoir residents would be out at this time of night in the icy weather, at least, not for as long as they had been sitting there, on that big stupid statue dubbed Bigfoot.

By now Sheena's silence made it obvious that Zelos wasn't about to get anything out of her without hitting a nerve or two, and this was something he was never usually afraid to do, now being no different. "Sheena, you remember the final battle right?" His tone and facial features were sober as he continued, not waiting for her response. "Well, ever since then, I've wondered why you opened up to me the way you did, and right now," he paused with the start of a chuckle. "I sure would like to know what I did to get that kind of action," the seriousness in his voice sliding back into his usual brimming humor by the end of his statement.

"That's because you almost _died_ you Idiot!" the ninja growled, almost furious that he could have forgotten something quite so important as that. Because she would never forget anything that happened on the day of both world's salvation.

* * *

_  
The sky above was clouding, and the sun itself seemed to go into hiding over a soon-to-be battlefield. The area opened up to be a large, metal platform, with little to nothing to keep one from falling off. It wasn't at all a comforting thought for the party members without the ability to fly, which consisted of more than half of the group. As everyone emerged from the stairs with rushed, clanking footfalls, one lone angel could be seen standing on the opposite side of the platform, his back to them as he waited expectantly. His underlings rising threateningly on their wings from beyond him._

_Upon turning to inspect his opponents, he was not at all happy to see the Eternal Sword in a human's hands, the boy that had vowed to stop him, no less. And then adding insult to injury, his spy was among them, grinning like mad as though he had accomplished some great feat. "What is the meaning of this!? That sword is not meant to be tainted by the hands of a filthy human!"_

"_This filthy human is going to cut you down!" Lloyd retorted, sporting his new blade with both hands menacingly, albeit a bit awkwardly._

"_Yeah, you tell him Lloyd!" Zelos whooped agreeably with little regard for the seriousness of the situation._

"_Worthless Chosen! You said you wanted to be on the winning side!" Yggdrasill boomed, indignant._

_Zelos scoffed with a casual charm that was his own. "Maybe you didn't notice with all those legions of angels you've been hiding behind, but I AM on the winning side."_

_The rest of the party stepped forward and they all nodded approvingly as Yggdrasill snarled with contempt. "You're far from sanity if you think you can beat me, I have more power than all of you put together!"_

_No one seemed to be listening to him as Lloyd and Zelos quickly formed a strategy, Raine adding her advice on the formula. Their determination set, with high chances of failure, but success being their only option, and they were ready, the group scattered on Lloyd's command. "Now!"_

_Explosions, screams, yelps, shouts of unpleasant language, it all seemed to be present in the usual activity of battle for the party. Heads were nearly lopped, arms were nearly pierced, other limbs were nearly broken in multiple areas that were better left unspecified._

_The members appointed to the job of distraction and being that of the first line of defense consisted of Lloyd, Regal, and Presea, while Zelos and Sheena held their places in the middle, casting when they had the chance, and slashing when any angels got through the front lines. Raine, Genis, and Collete brought up the rear as they focused all their energies on casting._

_Of course, the front lines were taking the brunt of the damage and relied heavily on Raine's constant healing. And they would often need to switch places with Sheena and Zelos for a short time._

"_Oi Sheena, how about we heat this place up?" Zelos offered with a smirk as they retook their places in the middle._

_The ninja spared a roll of her eyes in reply to his insinuation, though she nodded, understanding his meaning as she prepared the summoning with the proper stance and seals._

"_Oh yeah, Burn Baby!" Zelos laughed with a mixture of adrenaline and excitement, prepping himself as well._

_The casting circles around them glowed a fiery red when the spells came to a blazing climax as the gates of hellfire released its lord and element. "Eruption! - Efreet!" the duo shouted at once._

_The bombardment of flames did little to slow the seraph's movements, and although it did short work of his minions, it only seemed to anger him the more so, and no one better noticed this than Regal as he ducked a kick, or was that a beam? No that was the next move, it was all starting to blur together after awhile and he was surprised that he was keeping up as well as he was. He spoke too soon, as he was knocked a good ten feet away, unmoving and unconscious._

_Lloyd cursed, but did not lose himself to the distraction, as he leaped backward and slashed, neatly dodging a beam and scoring a hit, though the impact resulted in little damage due to the curious shield Yggdrasill seemed to have surrounding his entire body, which was only weekended when hit by magic, meaning the close range combatants needed to time their strikes in symmetry with the support fire of their mages._

_Until Raine could revive the unconscious Regal, it was left to Lloyd and Presea to fend off the monstrously overpowered angel, though his reinforcements were now in short supply, thus making it easier on the party to concentrate all their fire on him. The downside, however, was that because of that exact reason, Yggdrasill was getting desperate, and his movements radical, almost unreadable._

_When switching positions for roughly the fifth time, Zelos and Sheena swarmed in, relieving the two fighters as they retreated a ways. That was when the leader of Cruxis made it his main focus to target a most annoying red-haired Chosen. _

_During his attack, Zelos sidestepped to dodge, but what was thought to be a thrust turned out to be a feign and, with a well aimed and powerful energy blast from Yggdrasill, the pink clad man was thrown to meet the ground._

_The angel of Cruxis grunted with disgust and disinterest alike as the ninja cried the Chosen's name, as well as leaving her post and rushing to him worriedly. Luckily for the group, Regal had regained consciousness, thanks to Raine, and took up his place once more, though the angel hadn't been concerned with the muscular man, and was thus taken by surprise when a swallow kick came from the side._

_The former front lines were quickly retaken when the restored Lloyd and Presea returned to the fray, though Zelos and Sheena's casting support were sorely missed for the short time they were absent._

"_Can you get up?" Sheena's inquiry was one of concern rather than urgency, though her tone implicated both as she gave Zelos an apple gel to swallow._

_He flinched as Sheena helped him sit up. "Y-yeah, I'll be fine. I think." Upon examining his strained features, Sheena remained skeptical and quickly waved to Raine for help, but the healer's reply was not what she expected._

_Over the shouts and crashes of battle, and the distance that they were now separated by, Raine could thus not explain, but rather made an attempt to cast revitalize, but her mana was all but depleted by now, the spell's range did little more than reach Collete and Genis, both standing not too far from her._

_Sheena sighed in defeat and was surprised when the wounded man stood up, gripping his aching shoulder. "Heh, so fire didn't work eh? let's see if he likes a thunder storm then!"_

_The summoner smiled at his tough guy act and joined him in standing as she thought little of his bravery and more on his carelessness. "Are you sure you're body can handle it?" she questioned in a rushed concern._

"_What, are you kidding? This is cake!" Zelos quipped with a crooked smirk. It was forced, Sheena noted but could not spare the time it took to worry about it._

_As the couple's chanting began, it did not go unnoticed, far from it, because the lord of Cruxis quickly spun to glare at them. "I don't think so!" Their combined spells were lethal, he knew this now and assumed that the blasted Chosen's spells fed off of the summons power and if they kept at it, he feared his shield would be down for good, and then the rest of these filthy worms would be able to take him down piece by piece. Well he wasn't about to allow that!_

_Shooting an energy blast at the plated flooring, Yggdrasill sent a shock wave along the ground, forcing back the three fighters as they all leaped to avoid it, this gave him enough time to choose, and focus, on a specific target._

"_I call upon the hammer of-" Sheena's words echoed but were abruptly silenced as her voice caught when she seen him loose a beam of light directly at her and she braced herself for the deadly impalement, but just as with the endless pit before, the impact never came. And it was much to her horror when she realized why she had not been knocked to the ground with a gaping hole in her torso. "NO!" she howled with such a terrible intensity that it drowned out any of other's shouts of anguish as Zelos lay in her place on the floor and bleeding profusely at both wounds, the crash seemed to have made his shoulder wound much worse, and Sheena couldn't even bring herself to inspect the damage of his mangled torso._

_She let loose a furious snarl and turned away, fixing her stare fiercely on the enemy as she flicked cards to her hands in an instant. "Source of Heaven!" Her eyes blazed with a rage that she had never known her body withheld as it boiled up from her being. "Earth, and everything in between!" She lashed through multiple seals with such a speed and fervor that the rest of the party was half watching in aw and half attempting to draw Yggdrasill's fire, as they did not want to attract any of the summoner's wrath upon themselves. "Ruler of all!" Sheena roared hotly, the force of the summoning pulsed around and beneath her as it seemed to feed off of her anger. "I summon thee! Origin!"_

_The blond angel had been expecting the summoning, and had already accepted not being able to stop it due to the rest of the pests that seemed to come from every angle, but what he was not expecting was how much damage it would do, because he thought that, after disposing of the Chosen, he wouldn't need to concern himself with the summoner. Oh how wrong he was, and it was a good thing the summoner was out of commission shortly after Origin was through with him because he would have had to focus all his attacks on her until she died, regardless of any distractions; Origin had nearly crippled him!_

_As it was, Sheena used the last of her strength to drop to her knees near the mortally wounded Chosen. She wasn't sure what had caused it, due to fatigue, stress, or trauma, perhaps a combination of all of them, but all she really knew was that the tears were coming, hard and fast as Zelos spent the last of his precious dying moments to smile and touch her face tenderly. He didn't need to say anything, he had said plenty throughout their journey and he also knew what Sheena needed most right now was silence, silence to just cry, because he assumed she hadn't really been able to for a long time. And it was a selfish thing, he knew, but he was happy to see that she had cared about him enough to mourn him, to waste tears on someone as worthless as himself. _

"_Sheena! We need your help!" Raine shouted with a hardened tone while fending off one of Yggdrasill's recent reinforcements due to the major lack of a defensive line._

_The ninja remained completely frozen, as though she hadn't heard anything, all her attention was aimed at the dying man in front of her, with one big twisted knot of anguish wedged in her throat._

"_Leave her alone, we're fine!" Lloyd called, overruling Raine's order of protests as he went head-to-head with Yggdrasill, since somewhere along the line, Presea and Regal had been knocked away, both panting from exhaustion._

"_You should get back- out there- th-they need you, go get em, m-my Violent Demonic Bansh-shee," Zelos weakly joked, forcing another smile and choking back blood as his body seemed to be mutineering against itself, and although he tried to hide it, he now had little to say in the matter._

_At this, Sheena's body convulsed with agony and heavy sobbing as she bent over him, her head pressed against his chest as wet tears soaked and mixed among the blood on his shirt, gripping it and his hand desperately. Zelos used the last of his strength to stroke her hair once before he closed his eyes with a smile, satisfied with this sort of death. _

_His hand grew cold in her grasp and she raised her head to look at him, her eyes afflicted with internal agony. "No, you can't die Zelos, this isn't how things were suppose to go."_

_When he didn't respond is when panic began to set in for the ninja. She was taught to have detachment from others, to be stony with emotion, to be steady in any situation, so then why couldn't she pull herself together? As she thought more and more about the reality of the situation, terrible memories returned to her, the people of her village, Corrine's sacrifice, now Zelos? She didn't think she would be able to even function without him in the world, making debased comments and having him to smack around whenever she felt it necessary. Laughing inwardly towards all of his misplaced folly, though she wouldn't admit that to anyone. She had found more comfort from him than anyone else when reminded of her mistakes and losses, now who was she to turn to?_

_As if answering her silent plea a presence made itself known among the chaos of the battle. "Denying one's ability to die is quite a bold accusation." It was then that Sheena thought she seen a ghost approaching when she heard its powerful voice echo through her mind. "You humans are so unpredictable," the voice added._

"_Wh-" a sob and Sheena swallowed to gain her voice again. "What? Who- who are you?" she managed through blurred vision._

_When the entity finally took form, it tilted its head curiously at her. "So soon you have forgotten Sheena?"_

_Sheena gasped at the sight of the transparent fox before her. "Verius?" she whispered, but didn't bother wiping the moisture from her cheeks. When the large fox nodded, his approach only stole her attention for mere seconds before she sadly locked her sorrowful gaze to the lifeless Chosen in front of her and she stroked the hair away from his forehead in a lost hope of showing him the affecting she harbored for him for so long._

_Verius observed the gesture of affection with soft interest before speaking in a strong, demanding tone. "Do you love this man?" Love being his jurisdiction, he was inclined to ask._

_Fresh tears and new sobs had found their way to her again before she registered his echoing words and she nodded as she clenched her teeth, preparing herself for a another swarm of internal agony to surge through her. But her silent reply didn't seem to satisfy the summon spirit. "You must say it, Summoner!" he growled to her urgently._

"_Yes, I love him!" Sheena cried, her voice cracking with a sob as her body shuddered. She hated to be in such a vulnerable state, but there was nothing she could do to change it, and she simply didn't care what others thought anymore._

"_Very well." Verius nodded purposefully and stepped even closer, and, with one paw aglow with many hues, placed it over the inflicted area of the Chosen's torso. _

_As Sheena watched in amazement, the wound closed up and the curious glow spread from the spirit's fore paw throughout Zelos' body, returning the healthy coloring and warmth to his skin, before long, he was breathing again. Sheena gasped and looked from Zelos to Verius and back again, she also found that she was unable to speak. When Zelos opened his eyes to behold the woman at his side, he smiled that familiar smile and was not expecting the effect it would have on the summoner as he soon found himself enveloped in her arms with a cry of happiness. "Uh Sheena, do you mind filling me in? I can't remember anything," Zelos wondered, absently stroking her back soothingly in hopes of comforting her as tears of joy erupted from her eyes._

_Sheena didn't bother to reply as she lifted her head from his shoulder to see that Verius was already fading into an unreadable image. "Thank you, Corrine," she called after him, nearly whispering his name, the one he had abandoned._

_Verius was walking away, his back to them in his fading light as he turned his head, and Sheena thought she seen him smile with his parting words. "I'll aways be watching over you Sheena, observing your heart. Do not let my gift fade to a vain love."_

_Sheena nodded as he finally disappeared altogether and she looked back down to the said gift and smiled; at this point it could be said she was outrightly laying on top of the man, her arms propping her up at his shoulders and her face directly above his, and, Zelos Wilder being who he was, smiled slyly back up at her. The thought simultaneously struck the both of them and everything that had previously been running through Sheena's mind had ultimately dissolved as they shared in a mutual collaboration, kissing away each other's anxieties, for Zelos it was simple confusion, which was promptly forgotten, but for Sheena it was much more complex than that, but they too were forgotten as happiness was replaced and swelled all around her, the couple's obligations didn't occur to either of them as the climactic battle of Symphonia continued to wage on beyond them._

o-o-o


	2. Mandolin Rain

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ToS I would most definitely be able to draw an anime character without reference...I own nothing.**

AN: Mandolin Rain is a song, and I thought it related really well to Sheena and Zelos so that's why I decided to use it for the chapter title.

**- Chapter Two - Mandolin Rain -**

"Your Majesty," Zelos started with a bow. "I have a request if I may be so bold."

Inside the throne room of Meltokio's castle it was in the early morning hours that the redhead had requested an audience with the king, and the king promptly obliged; the Chosen of Tethe'alla wasn't one to request...well, anything so early in the morning, thus the king took this as a sign of importance.

The king breathed a soft chuckle and regarded the red head as though he were the court jester. "No need for formalities Zelos, just say what it is you want."

"Well..." Zelos stood erect and set his left hand lazily on the hilt of his sword. "It's about our emissary campaign," he said hesitantly, slyly knowing the king would interrupt him regardless.

"Oh!" the king said suddenly as his eyes brightened with recollection. "That reminds me, I have another assignment for Sheena."

"Yeah, about that, I'll be happy to deliver that to her, but this brings me to my request," Zelos replied, a smirk appearing on his mouth.

It had been quite a few months since he had asked the king to appoint Sheena as Meltokio's emissary, and Zelos had gladly volunteered to deliver her assignments personally since then, it was purely coincidence, of course, that he knew the wear abouts of the hidden ninja village, purely coincidence.

The king nodded and waved a hand for Zelos to continue. "I'd like to accompany Sheena on her emissary travels." When receiving a skeptical look from His Majesty, Zelos sighed and went on to explain himself. "The truth is, I've heard the reports from the North sentries about the monsters in the area and how their growing more powerful due to the return of mana in the world."

"And," the king began, curiously. "You don't trust that our Summoner of Spirits can handle this new threat?"

"That is just one reason, my second motive is more or less due to boredom," he said with an indifferent shrug. "After being relieved of my responsibilities as the Chosen, I have little purpose to be here, my abilities may as well be put to good use as our emissary's body guard at the very least."

The king hummed with interest at the young man's cleverness, though it puzzled the king as to why Zelos was hiding his true motive; Sheena must mean a lot to him for him to be so secretive about his feelings. "I am presuming a third motive here but we shall leave it at that, in regards to your request, consider it granted, now off with you, a king has more important things to attend to than to enjoy his jester's folly all day."

Zelos gave a generous smile, conveniently disregarding the older man's suggestion, as he dismissed himself with a bow and a thanks.

Exiting the castle after receiving the letter from one of the king's attendants, Zelos was well on his way down the castle steps with a fresh air of confidence, his usual mischievous grin never seeming to leave his features. He greeted all whom he passed pleasantly as he stepped onward to the city gates. The prospect of seeing Sheena again always improved his mood, but now knowing he would be able to accompany her on her travels lifted his spirits considerably.

* * *

Shouts of young ninja chorused together in unity as their strict training drove them toward perfection. The chief of the hidden clan strode down the line of the young ninja squad in training, passing each with either an approving nod or a word of correction to each.

Zelos could hear these sounds of training from the entrance gate at which he stood when the guard approached, the way he usually would whenever the Chosen arrived on "official" business. "Chosen," the guard acknowledged with a slight tip of his head. "Another letter of assignment, I presume?"

"Yep!" Zelos exclaimed, brandishing the letter from his pocket. "So will you let me through? Be a friend?"

"Of course Chosen, the Chief has given you full admittance to our village, after all," the guard said, making a gesture for Zelos to pass by. "Will you need any assistance in locating our emissary of peace?"

Zelos chuckled. "Nope, I have a pretty good idea, thanks," he replied casually with a flick of his hand.

Walking into the training grounds of the village, Zelos simply leaned against the nearest building and stared as the ninjas in training finished up their exercises and knelt before their teacher and chief. That's when Sheena noticed him and quickly dismissed her class before addressing him. "What is it this time Zelos? Another job for me, since it's _obvious_ I'm just not busy enough?"

"Hello to you too, Love." He handed her the parchment and set his head to a curious tilt on the wall, watching her with interest as she opened and quickly scanned the letter. She hadn't changed her hairstyle any, but he still couldn't seem to get used to seeing her with her purple gi no longer present, the one that was just recently replaced by her brown Igaguri style uniform.

Sheena was unaffected by his staring and concerned herself with her next mission; by now this habit of his had simply become second nature to her. "Flanoir huh? It looks like they need to sign a peace treaty with nearby towns in order to safely share all the medical technology they have."

Zelos merely shrugged indifferently. "It's none of my business, I'm just the delivery boy," he said simply, and at that, turned to leave.

"What? That's it?" Sheena seemed almost dumbstruck by the sudden falter in his usual routine at each visit. "No jokes, no flirtatious remarks?" she almost gasped between a pause. "No _tricks_?"

"Nope." He sent her a grin and turned his back to her with some parting words. "Buh-Bye Hunny, Kiss, kiss!" After a quick glance, and a bit of a glare to his immediate left, Zelos finally departed, all too knowingly of the spy that had witnessed the entire display.

Once Zelos seemed to be out of earshot, Sheena also turned her attention to the shadow near the building. "You're losing your touch, Orochi, even Zelos knew you were there," she observed as the male ninja stepped out of the shadows and knelt before her.

"My apologies, Chief. It is something I will surely work on," Orochi promised with a bit of rare humor lining his voice.

Sheena blew a bit of frustration out of her face and eyed her Second in command nervously. "Please don't do that Orochi, it makes me uncomfortable," she told him and hastily made a gesture for him to stand up.

Orochi complied and stood with his arms set respectfully behind his back, similar to the way an adviser might do when discussing an important matter. "Is something bothering you Sheena?" He knew her statement meant she also wasn't in the mood for the formality of her title.

"I... I can't really talk about it," the newly appointed ninja leader said hesitantly among her pacing, which in itself was a fairly new development that seemed to come with the title. "But basically, it's just something Grandfather informed me a few weeks ago, and I've been... troubled, to say the least."

"Yes, and this new predicament somehow involves the Chosen?" Orochi wondered aloud through his inference and Sheena just stared at him, the blankest, most vulnerable look crossed her features for the slightest of a second; just how did he seem to know everything all of a sudden?

Orochi made a tsk sound as he shook his head in mild disapproval. "Shame, shame, Sheena, a ninja should never show such weakness nor emotion, it implies too much information for any unwanted loose ends."

Sheena simply sent a look of annoyance his way; was he just lecturing his chief? Did she hear him right? In the end she didn't reply, or reprimand him for that matter, and simply settled to sigh in defeat; she was beaten on all sides, there was no point in even trying to argue over a battle of wits with him when the end result would be Orochi giving her some sort of advise. The long and short of it, she just wanted to skip to the advise, because truth be told, she wasn't a very patient ninja when it came down to it.

Orochi seemed to notice her inner struggle and decided to just give her the advise she had been hoping for. "Sheena, regardless of all our customs, we are most importantly instructed to act on our feelings. I'm sure that whatever your grandfather told you, in the end he would want you to seek out what you really want in life, because although your duties as the chief of Mizuho and the emissary of peace for Meltokio are all indeed important, your happiness is not something you should ignore, if you should ever let that happen, then you will most certainly end up like my brother, consumed and overcome with despair and emptiness."

Sheena could only gape oddly for a time before producing any kind of logical reply. "You've given me a lot to think about," she said and bowed to him, not as the chief but as a friend. "Thanks Orochi, I'll leave the village in your care then."

He likewise bowed. "Of course Chief," he complied, and with a nod, they both went their separate ways.

* * *

Zelos couldn't help but smile happily as he made his way through the snowy city of Flanoir; it was a sorry thing when one's own genius amused one's self.

The ride on his Rheaird was pleasant enough, with hardly any mishaps to speak of, aside from that ugly dragon, but Zelos made short work of him with a bit of wing chipping and a sudden drop. Now he was looking forward to being safely tucked away inside the town's Inn, with the lovely prospect of traveling with Sheena soon. It almost seemed as if life was finally starting to look up, for once in his life.

Stepping through the entrance of the Inn, the fiery haired man approached the counter. "Ch-Chosen! C-Can I help you?" the female clerk stuttered nervously.

"Ex-Chosen," he corrected simply. "Yes, yes you can, and no need to be nervous Hunny, I just want a room," he answered and leaned on the counter with his usual charisma. "Oh and my companion will be arriving either sometime tonight or early in the morning and I'd like this to be a surprise, so just tell her that her room has been paid in advance. No need to mention me, m'kay?"

The clerk nodded and shakily handed him his assigned room key, obviously a bit flustered, she wasn't able to reply with anything when the former Chosen sent her a wink and headed up the stairs to his room.

His bright disposition did not last, however, as a frown soon replaced his cheery smile when entering his room and sitting down on one of the two beds. There, he watched with distaste as snow came down in thick, white sheets outside the window. His past never seemed to forget in reminding him how much he disliked the element, though it wasn't that he always needed to avoid the snow, it was just that he needed to avoid it when it fell in Meltokio. Though really, after living through that traumatizing event, he could easily live without the sticky, cold, wet substance.

He sighed sadly and let his head drop to the pillow. Hopefully if he went to sleep, Sheena would be here when he woke up, he smirked, and preferably not whacking him senseless due to the predicament she will find herself in upon arriving. Yes, sleep was starting to sound really great.

* * *

Later that same night, at a most ungodly hour, Sheena arrived at the same sleepy town. She was tired, but happy to have the trip there behind her. The flight itself was fine, though when she started out, a really pissed of, and wingless dragon attacked her before she could even mount her Rheard. Honestly, she didn't hold anything against monsters, but if they attacked first then she was obliged to fight back, besides, she had been in a hurry to get to where she was going, and thus made good use of a summon spirit's power.

This fact brought her to the present as she contemplated why she could easily defeat giant, bloodthirsty beasts singlehandedly, but currently was unable to get specific information from a simple Inn keeper.

"Sorry Miss, I was instructed not to tell you anything other than the room was paid for in advance," the clerk chirped cutely, a little _too_ cutely for Sheena's liking. Something was strange about this whole situation, and she wasn't going to relax until she figured it out.

"Fine, I'll take the room, but I _will_ get to the bottom of this," the ninja grumbled as the clerk nodded in agreement and handed over the room key.

"Enjoy your stay!"

Sheena didn't reply to that as she ascended the stairs. She was too intent on solving this stupid misunderstanding, because that's exactly what it had to be. The king never arranged accommodations for her emissary jobs before, so why would he have sent anyone ahead of her to reserve a room- "Oh no!-" she growled when realization finally hit. She _knew_ there was something strange going on when he delivered her assignment! "ZELOS!"

Even out in the hallway, the banshee's earsplitting roar made the ex-Chosen bolt outright of la-la land and neatly into the night stand near his bed. "Ow," he whined and touched the offended spot on his head as Sheena could now be seen in the doorway and still clad in her special gi which signified her station as the chief of Mizuho... both of them. "Why Sheena, you never told me you had a twin!... Is she a chief too?"

"What are you talking about you _Idiot_?" she fumed and walked right up to him, holding up an accusing hand. "Tell me what's going on before I smack you."

He went to grab her, seemingly, immobile hand but missed completely and frowned stupidly. "Oh... I must be seeing double, please, refrain from smacking me until I can properly dodge only one of your hands."

"Urgh! Zelos, just get to the point and tell me why you're here already!"she seethed, and in the back of her mind wondered if this was how disoriented he would seem when drunk.

"Well, um, you see Sheena," Zelos hesitated with a bit of apprehension as he scratched his head, cringing when rubbing his offended spot before giving an impish grin. "I'm your new body guard! Isn't that lovely?" He spread his arms out in a "ta-da" manner, though his reception was left to an empty effect. "Officially appointed by the king and everything!"

Sheena massaged her forehead tiredly for a moment. "Zelos, if that were true, why didn't you just tell me about it when you delivered the message to me?"

Zelos added the most innocent look to his face as possible before replying. "Well Sheena, if I did that, you would've ordered the entire village to assassinate me!" He paused and added vehemently, "and they would've done it!"

Sheena growled in a mixture of exasperation and exhaustion. She was tired from her usual Mizuho duties and only more so when coupled with the journey here. Truth be told, she just wanted to go to sleep, but now she would have to deal with Zelos, who had presumably slept the whole day away! Not to mention being around him was, distracting, to say the least. And right now, an added distraction was the last thing she needed.

Zelos took Sheena's silence as a warning and decided to sit down on the foot of his bed and just keep quiet during the time she spent fuming... and pacing? When exactly did that habit develop?

When finally Sheena herself noticed that she had been pacing, but more importantly that Zelos had been thoughtful enough to let her do so, she regarded him with a sad, almost sorry smile. It was nice to know that he was at least trying to keep the peace between them, even if he did stir things up without meaning to.

But she needed time to think, she had hoped that this job would have provided that time, but it was not to be. She turned to leave the room without a word, even after the grin he returned to her in regards to her smile.

She had shut the door behind herself so quickly that Zelos was left sitting on the bed in his confusion. By the time he crossed the room and was in the hall, Sheena was already headed out the Inn's exit with little to no hesitation.

When he finally made it outside, the snowing had died down to tiny, light flakes, with no ninja in sight as the lights of the town gave the atmosphere a heavy blue hue. He sighed, disheartened as he looked to the ground. His spirits were almost instantly lifted as he noted the only two fresh footprints in the snow. He smirked at his banshee's carelessness as he jumped to the roof with the ease of an angel, only to find a trail of the same footmarks in the snow along the Inn's rooftop.

o-o-o


	3. White Crimson

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: Somewhere in that fanfiction manual it says you have to do this... But who reads the manual? For all we know we might not even have to keep putting these up anymore!...Nah that's too good to be true, never mind, I don't own Tales of Symphonia.**

**- Chapter Three – White Crimson -**

On the other side of town, Zelos had found Sheena sitting on the head of the largest statue, her arms wrapped comfortably around one leg while the other hung loosely over the edge for balance. And, although Zelos knew she had only been there for a matter of moments, she was already staring hard at the ground below, deep in concentration.

It wasn't until her senses twinged that she spun to see him hovering over the last of her footprints on the nearest building, she then sent a glare his way. "You cheated," she growled, referring to his stealth. She had been expecting him to find her sooner or later, but definitely not _this_ soon.

Zelos shrugged unaffected by the accusation. "So? You would have heard me a long time ago if I had been crunching through the snow like an idiot."

"See, that's where you become a contradiction in terms, because no matter what, you're still an idiot." Her words had obviously been meant for friendly banter, but Zelos still made a fake gesture to his heart as though he had just been run through, made an odd choking sound, and furthermore let himself drop from the roof for added drama. Of course, having a couple inches or more of snow to break his fall, and having the ability to float, Sheena hadn't been too worried concerning his safety while pulling the stunt.

In fact she allowed herself a small giggle as Zelos lay there, motionless, and hoping for her assistance... it never came. And he was beginning to get wet as the powder started melting all around him, seeping into his clothes. "Sheena!" he whined pathetically. "You know I have to lie here until you come down and kiss the life back into me, right?" A pause. "I think it's pretty serious, so it could take awhile to heal, but I have faith in you!"

The smile she had attained slowly drew away as she forced herself to turn her attention elsewhere, and Zelos noticed this only after peeking through one eye in his false deadened state. "Sheeenaa," he howled again, but no response, and he made a face. That's when he decided to give up and stand erect as he began wringing himself out.

Sheena spared him a glance or two, but he was otherwise ignored even as he drifted up to hang in midair right in front of her with a pleading cant of his head, his scarlet gold wings glittering among the falling snow. "Will the master ninja allow me to sit next to her I wonder?"

"No, I'm not snuggling. For one, I'm not in the mood, and secondly, you're soaking wet," she observed blankly, uncaring of anything she may have just suggested; she knew what he had in mind.

"-But I'm wet and cold and-! Wait, are those the only reasons?" He seemed to have expected much more personal complaints and he quickly jumped on the leniency of her wording. "Then you don't object me being here?"

Sheena scrutinized irritably. "They're reason enough, and how am I to object when it was an order from the king? So just go back to the Inn and dry off already." She made a shooing motion, hoping that would send him on his way, however slim the chance may have been.

"I couldn't go do that and leave my favorite banshee out here to freeze!" he exclaimed, disgusted with just the thought of such an unforgiving act.

The elemental summoner sighed exasperatedly as the ex-Chosen of Tethe'alla moved to sit next to her, even after all of her objections. "I came out here on my own, Zelos, can't you see I want to be alone for awhile?"

"Hm, yeah I can see that," he answered in a blank observation, and finally noting the relatively small, but deep gash along her forearm. He had been expectantly looking over her to find it, since, along with her footprints was a trail of blood dotted along the rooftops. "But wouldn't it be better for you to talk about it?" He asked whilst inspecting the wound without much regard towards her personal space.

Sheena didn't answer, retreating back into her shell of tranquility, though she allowed him to tend her injury without any opposition. Whatever material she had come into contact with was already infecting her flesh, causing Zelos to grimace at it before casting a healing. Why wasn't she taking care of herself? It worried him to see her like this, and far be it for her to ask for help when she didn't want it.

The familiar sight of blood alone did not effect him so much as it did when mingled with the falling snow, instead it caused him to cringe slightly. Terrible memories, memories that should not have been formed at such a young age, faded unbidden over his vision. Everything was blotched and broken as though the past may have been playing out in front of him in the form of outlined figures.

Sheena had noticed his unusual silence and watched him curiously as he stared down at her hand; the wound had closed but the blood remained. She sighed internally, she knew what he was thinking about and she wondered how long he would carry that torturous memory. She supposed it was similar to the way Volt's rampage would forever haunt her. "If you're still trying to cheer me up, you're doing a lousy job of it," she joked, hoping if nothing else her light tone would return him to normal.

* * *

"_Was there something in particular you wanted to talk to me about?" Sheena wanted to know. She pulled the hood of her coat up to cover her head from the sprinkling white powder. She shot him a look of suspicion. "And this better not have anything to do with that stunt you pulled with my sash earlier, or so help me Zelos, I can and I _will_ summon Celsius, and let me tell you, when she's through with you, I guarantee that you won't be thinking she's so great anymo-"_

"_Woah, hey, hey, slow down a bit will ya?" Zelos placed a hand on her shoulder in hopes of calming her but then quickly retrieved it when she threw a sharp glare his way. He held his hands up defensively. "I just wanted to talk to you, you know, before... tomorrow," he said, his voice grew smaller towards the end and Sheena had to concentrate in order to hear him._

"_Tomorrow?" Sheena repeated quizzically but realization soon kicked in. "Oh, you mean, because we might fail." She looked away from him as they walked through the white streets of Flanoir, her mood rather depressed by all the consequences of what failure implied._

"_So anyway," Zelos said, choosing not to reply to her observation as he swatted some snow away that had collected on his shoulder. "I'm sure you've noticed by now how I start acting a little strange whenever we come here." He motioned over the town with a flick his wrist._

"_Strange? Yeah I guess you could call it that," the ninja said with an odd look, noting his constant fussing over the cold, wet powder._

"_All this white fluffy stuff reminds me of my mother," he said and sighed as though preparing himself for an uncomfortable moment. _

"_Your mother?" Sheena repeated for the third time, she would need to put a stop to that, she noted to herself._

"_Yeah," Zelos said with an empty chuckle. "It's pretty depressing, I probably shouldn't even bother you with the details."_

"_No." Sheena shook her head, this was a rare side of Zelos, the serious, sentimental side that she had grown to like and she wanted to keep him drawn out as much as possible."I've heard rumors, and you've mention her before, but I've never heard the whole story," she said as they had to pause their strides when a couple kids at play ran directly in front of them, a dog followed in the children's wake and Sheena added with a wry smirk: "The _true_ story." Whether it was the scene that had just played out before them, or the fact that she was at ease with Zelos right now, Sheena wasn't sure, but she was filled with a warmth that she would have normally thought impossible in this particular town, except by way of a fireplace of course. _

_Zelos mirrored her expression but his version was far more desolate. "The truth is what I've tried my hardest to forget." He managed to hold his half-hearted smile but turned away in the possess. "But this memory refuses to be forgotten," he scoffed. "Stubborn thing."_

"_Stop stalling Zelos," Sheena warned, hoping a bit of annoyance would get across to him. She could sense that this was a tender subject for him, but she didn't think pussy footing around the matter would get them anywhere. "Tell me what the snow has to do with your mother already."_

_Zelos pulled his mouth up into that same sad smirk and tipped his head obediently. "Well, on the day of my first snow in Meltokio, white turned to crimson, and everything I knew turned to chaos."_

_Sheena listened intently as he related the events of his mother's murder, the bolt that was meant for him, and the rest of the tangled mess that had been exposed to him after that bloody incident. _

_Everything Sheena knew and had heard began to fit into place with the light of his words, like a complicated puzzle with which you cannot piece together without the assistance of another._

_They made quite a few rounds about the town that night and Sheena took everything he said to heart. She knew he hadn't been lying, she didn't need her ninja intuition to see that he was sincere, and he had no reason to make everything up. She knew he didn't want pity, but understanding._

"_Your family is quite the dis functional one," she remarked, her voice and smile seemed genuinely quipping but her eyes proved false to the act. She was trying her utmost to imitate the way he treated her after Corrine's death. But it was a hard thing, to be strong for someone when you yourself felt like crying for them._

* * *

In response to Sheena's gibe Zelos smiled sadly but soon frowned at something downward, whatever had caught his attention could have been a number of things, and for a rare moment he refused to meet her gaze as he opened his mouth a few times but no sound came forth. Finding a passive interest in his hands, Zelos flexed them in his lap in order to get some feeling back into them due to the frigid air. They must have seemed crazy to anyone passing by, after all, no normal Flanoir residents would be out at this time of night in the icy weather, at least, not for as long as they had been sitting there, on that big stupid statue dubbed Bigfoot.

Moments passed and silence reigned against the oppressive fall of frost. Zelos didn't like dwelling on the past, but in a place like this it was hard to avoid, since every time a flake touched him it was like an unpleasant reminder. He tried to think of other things, like their complicated relationship and how or why it had seemed to changed over the past few months. "Sheena, you remember the final battle right?" he finally spoke, his tone and facial features were sober as he continued, not waiting for her response. "Well, ever since then, I've wondered why you opened up to me the way you did, and right now," he paused with the start of a chuckle. "I sure would like to know what I did to get that kind of action," the seriousness in his voice sliding back into his usual brimming humor by the end of his statement. He was starting to feel better already.

"That's because you almost _died_ you Idiot!" the ninja growled, almost furious that he could have forgotten something quite so important as that. Because she would never forget anything that happened on the day of the world's salvation. The events of that day played through her mind quickly, but her thoughts were altogether scattered as the ex-Chosen's voice easily broke through her silent musing, with a humor that was highly misplaced in her opinion.

"But Hunny!" he almost gasped, as her reply, put simply, flew right over his head. "I just died right in front of you and you did nothing!"

"Zelos," she warned, her tone dangerous. "What are you trying to do exactly? I'm tired and cranky, and you're really not a good combination to be added with it."

"I'm trying to get you to talk to me about what's bothering you, but so far it's not working," he said and made a face, pouting.

"Zelos, I'm not mad at you, or what you've done really, (though you are kind of annoying)" she sighed. "It's just, I'm having problems adjusting to my responsibilities as the chief, and because of that I admit that I've been... irritable."

"Aw," Zelos cooed. "That's ok Sheena, you're my number one hunny, you can do no wrong in my world." He stood and smiled as he offered her a hand. "So, what say we head back to the Inn and get inside where it's warm?"

Sheena stared up at him and his extended hand. Apparently her confession just now had been taken as an apology by him, but she didn't want to give herself the headache of trying to understand why.

Zelos didn't move or say anything until she accepted his gesture, allowing him to pull her to a standing position, and although his assistance was hardly needed, she knew it would make him feel useful and at that point she was no longer in the mood to argue. "And I'm assuming your world consists of the entire populace being female with the exception of yourself?"

Zelos looked up, thoughtful for a moment. "No, that would only be in my dreams." He smiled, turning back to her cheerfully. "You know me too well Hunny!"

"_That's more like it,"_ Sheena thought, satisfied with his return to norm. "Whatever, let's head back already, I have to meet with the new council in the morning," she told him and leaped off the statue, landing nimbly on the ground as a ninja should, unlike an earlier mishap.

"Now," the redhead said and set his head at a curious tilt as he joined her on the path, which was now being covered over by a new layer of snow "Will the ninja let me carry her I wonder?"

Sheena spared him a side glance before halting her steps and eying him warily. If he did have some ulterior motive, he was hiding it well, because she couldn't sense any deception in his tone or features, or perhaps she was just too tired to notice. Or maybe he noticed her exhaustion and was for once simply being thoughtful? She shook her head inwardly, she didn't feel like looking so deeply into things, and there was no one else around that would question it, so she could allow herself to let her guard down at least a little bit. "I suppose... if it makes you happy," she complied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Zelos held an easy smile as he gave a short nod before habitually sliding down into a kneeling position beside her.

Sheena scoffed and crossed her arms, viewing his position as though it was below her to have to be carried on his back. "You're not a packhorse are you?"

The former Chosen blinked in a blank stupor before grinning wickedly. "Not if you say I'm not."

Sheena looked away, her nose held high in a smug facade. She barely had a chance to nod her head in recognition and before the chief ninja new it, she was lifted into the air and held bridal style by the man that was all but too happy to oblige. "So," she said, letting her head loll and rest on his shoulder as he walked softly through the snow. "Tell me more about this world of yours."

Zelos couldn't seem to rid himself of the ridiculous smile that was currently framing his features, though he wasn't trying very hard to remove it; he had no reason to. "Well, you see, in my world we don't worry about what will be, or what the world will make of us,"

Sheena nodded and yawned, making at least some sort of attempt at listening, but it was getting harder with each step her carrier took. The past few weeks of new duties and worries were finally catching up to her. Even if she was a summoner, a ninja, the chief of her village, she had her limits, and Zelos' warm embrace coupled with his soft voice was starting lull her even closer to nodding off.

He went on, making it a point to keeping his tone low, soothing he hoped. "It is ruled by a princess. This princess is fair enough, though she has stated most indirectly that I am allowed only one hunny, now that might seem harsh to you, but I'm happy with it because...Well, she's the princess. And she rules my world, whether she admits it or not." He looked over, either she was asleep or she was faking it with some sort of ninja skill. He smiled warmly and decided that he liked the thought of her resting peacefully, and so he went with that.

o-o-o


	4. Promise

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. It's all up to Namco ftw.**

**- Chapter Four – Promise**

Sheena sighed with relief as she stepped out of the building, where she had just spent over an hour explaining to the ruling members of Flanoir about the king's request. She was glad to have the meeting with Flanoir's new council members over and done with, though she was met with a most unpleasant cold draft upon closing the door behind her. She was already beginning to grow tired of this town, even though it was quiet and had a relaxing feel about it, it was just too cold for her taste, but it wasn't that she couldn't handle the cold, she would just never be inclined to live here.

Thinking about her next destination, she looked down to the parchment in her hand. It was more or less a treaty signed by the council members. She'd need to get it signed by all the various other towns and villages in the general area, whether the settlements were large or small, it was irrelevant, they all needed to agree on the matters therein.

She sighed again, this time out of mental exhaustion as she started back to the Inn. She didn't understand why she was so tired, she slept just fine the night before, though she did spend half the night talking with Zelos._"Yeah, that's gotta be it, it's all his fault,"_ she mentally told herself, it was always so easy to blame him for everything; though it was rather inconvenient when he wasn't around to blame. Maybe all she needed was a few more hours of sleep, knowing Zelos he'd probably _still_ be sleeping.

Shivering for about the fifth time that morning, Sheena cringed, she hoped she wasn't getting sick, that's all she needed. She felt like smacking herself for sitting out in the snow like that for no reason the night before. In all honestly, she deserved to get sick. Heck, even Zelos seemed to know better, since he had been time and again trying to get her to go back to the Inn. _"Damn, guess I can't blame him for this one."_

After reaching her home away from home she hadn't paid the receptionist's greeting any mind, she may have muttered something in reply but that would be purely coincidental seeing as her autopilot had already been engaged, she was quickly slipping into subconsciousness as she scaled the stairs to her room in a haze; her pillow was calling to her and she wasn't even in the room yet!

Upon reaching the room they shared, Sheena vaguely noted Zelos on his bed, still sleeping soundly, just as she had predicted. _"Good,"_ she thought. She was in no mood to deal with his conscious version. _"That's a good idea though,"_ she told herself with a malicious smirk as she embraced her own bed and pillow. _"If he wakes up I'll just knock him out or something." _With that thought in mind and a smile on her face, she dozed off peacefully.

* * *

Zelos walked down the hall, on his way back to the room from the hotel's cafeteria, a curious tray of breakfast in his hands. His breakfast request had puzzled the cooks since it was already lunch time but they quickly complied; anything for Tethe'alla's former Chosen.

As he closed in on the room, he hoped she was up by now, otherwise he'd have to do the unspeakable and wake her, and lo and behold if she didn't kill him for that. She had seemed abnormally exhausted after the meeting with the council this morning. _"Silly ninja, thinking I was still sleeping. What does she think I am, a cat? She should have known I was faking it."_ He shook his head, removing his smirk in the process as he balanced the tray and opened the door. _"Unless she was just really tired, or worse yet, catching a cold. Tsk, poor thing, still asleep."_

He set the tray of food on his bedside table and sat down on the floor. There, he leaned against his bed and watched her sleeping form as he munched on an apple, thinking up the cruelest way to wake her; after all, it wasn't everyday he had this sort of opportunity. It needed to be something clever but also something that wouldn't cause her to beat him over the head senseless with the nearest offensive weapon; probably the lamp. He glared at the object as though it was in his way to greatness.

"Don't even try it Zelos," Sheena warned, her eyes closed and her tone insinuating that she already knew his thought pattern.

Zelos had just taking a bite of his apple when she spoke, causing him to freeze amid chewing before he eyed her slyly. "Touché my lovely banshee," he said, tipping his head into a cute tilt. "It seems as though we are both equally skilled at the art of faking unconsciousness."

Sheena blinked her eyes open, her vision was blurred and strained due to the sun's rays coming through the window, the light glinted over the man's form, making him appear as though a greater being than he was. Sheena had to force back a scoff. _"How ironic, he probably planned that."_

Zelos blinked right back in response, puzzled by her lack of acknowledgment, but quickly shrugged the silence off. "Anyway. Mornin' Hunny, I got breakfast if you're hungry."

"Breakfast?" Sheena questioned and sat bolt upright on the side of her bed, a disoriented look about her; for some reason the term seemed odd to her. It took her a few moments of contemplation to realize that it was already past midday. "Half the day is already gone! How could I have wasted time like that?" she dropped her head in her hands, ashamed as she mumbled almost incoherently. _"I must be picking up your bad habits."_

"Nah," he said, waving her statement away casually. "You only slept that long because you needed to." Without receiving a reply Zelos moved to crouch in front of her, again tilting his head to the side curiously as Sheena continued to hide her face in her hands. "So are ninja even allowed to get sick?"

"What?" Sheena nearly snorted in an attempt to restrain a sudden wave of involuntary laughter.

"Ninja," Zelos repeated simply. "Can they catch a cold or not?"

Sheena raised her head and smirked down at him as she crossed her arms, trying to look smug. "Of course we can get sick, but it generally only happens if we overexert ourselves in battle or on complicated missions that consume too much of our life energy," she told him and frowned shortly afterward, lowering her hands back into her lap. She could remember only one time when she had felt truly sick, but the incident with Volt had caused her mental sickness more so than what they were discussing now. Though it did seem painfully similar.

"So," Zelos said and tried to ignore her sudden spike from exuberance to depression. "If you haven't been in a battle lately, then you must have worn yourself out," he deduced, nodding with approval. "Thus my prescription is: A lot of rest."

Sheena stared at him blankly, him and his big silly smile. "You're joking right?"

"Nope!" Zelos declared. "This ninja is strictly forbidden from any physical activity that even resembles work." He nodded again, this time with a look of authority. "Prescribed by the one and only Doctor Zelos Wilder."

Sheena couldn't help but laugh this time. "Doctor?" she asked incredulously, though she did have to admit he was doing his job well; cheering her up, that is. "Since when are _you_ a doctor?"

"Since you've been in need of one," he answered simply and added with expectancy. "So?"

She hesitated, smirking at him now. "So...what?" Now it was her turn to quirk up an odd look.

"What else ails you Hunny? I know something else has been bothering you, so just tell Doctor Zelos what's wrong, and be done with it." He gave her a look that implied he wasn't about to budge an inch on the subject until he got the answer he wanted.

"Well first, I think we need to clarify just what kind of "Doctor" you are exactly, because I'll tell you right now that you're not tricking me into playing "doctor" like that time with Collete when I came along and put a stop to it." Somewhere among her accusations she'd aimed a pointed finger at him. A wry glare pinned on her features; the memory of his 'misplaced' antics urged her to reprimand him but the smile on his face eased her into finding a little humor in it. She brought a hand to cover the embarrassment on her face. "Lord, if I hadn't come along when I did..."

Zelos made a shooing motion, as if ridding himself of the disruption in his progress. "I was just messing with her, honest!" he exclaimed, holding a hand to his heart in a sad attempt to prove his innocence. "Besides, Lloyd would have killed me if I tried anything."

"_I_ would have killed you!" Sheena hissed, poking him in the shoulder, rather forcefully he might add. "I _still_ might, if you try anything." She knew the threat was an empty one, she also knew their entire conversation so far had been more or less a charade, but she didn't really mind, other then the fact she knew it was about to end.

"Alright, alright, I got it, I'm just here to listen," he said with his hands up in a mild defense before dropping them again and looking up to her, his eyes intent on hers, and hers alone.

A few moments of silence lapsed as Sheena concentrated on her wording carefully, she stared at her hands resting in her lap and glanced up to meet his eyes, they were steady but displayed concern among their emerald-blue glow. She took a deep breath, preparing herself and released it in a mixture of sadness and acceptance, it was obvious by now that their humor had faded into emptiness.

"Grandfather is dying," she started gravely, her voice cracked unsteadily, just as she feared it would. She knew she needed to share the burden with someone eventually, and since it involved him, it seemed only right to share it with him, but so far it was proving difficult, more so then she had anticipated.

Zelos didn't reply, didn't make any movement that would suggest his acknowledgment, but rather, watched her attentively and waited, knowing all too well that she had more to say.

"About a month ago he spoke with me privately, he said he had less then half the season to live. How he knew exactly, I'm not sure, but only myself and the village physician know about his new illness." She paused and held his gaze for a moment, hoping he would say something, anything in response, but he refused, and Sheena quickly caught the hint that he was intent on receiving the whole story. "He also made a request at that time..."

She still doubted whether or not she should continue, but since she had already told him more than what she had even mentioned to Orochi, who was second in command and probably deserved to know about the former chief's condition more than anyone, Sheena decided it couldn't possibly make matters worse to tell Zelos what he was currently involved in, even if he didn't know it yet.

"Is it such a hard request that you have to hide it from the world?" he wondered._"From me?" _He had resolved to keep quiet until she finished but he knew she needed a little push in order to get this last portion out. He could easily see her inner struggle because she didn't hide it very well, not from him anyway.

With a sigh, the summoner continued. "He wants me to choose a suitor before he dies, or else he will choose one for me, and, although I can accept or reject the decision, it would be a grievance to him if I refused," she explained with a torn breath, she could already feel the hot tears and jarring sobs on there way, but she paid them little mind with a shrug. "I guess he wants to have the peace of mind that I won't be alone when he dies." She wound her hands in her hair and gave another ragged sigh. "I may have the title of the chief, but I still rely on him more than anyone would like to admit."

Moments after her words had faded came with it a long silence before Zelos finally broke out of his silent contemplation with a growl of annoyance. "Well damn! That's kinda harsh don't-ch'ya think?" He made a sorry attempt to laugh but in the end it turned out to be a wry chuckle.

Sheena just stared at him, that sort of reaction was one she hadn't expected at all. Didn't he know what this meant? Didn't he know that besides her grandfather, he was the only one she'd mentioned this to? Didn't he know he was the only one she could possibly choose at this point? She knew she loved Zelos, she had already admitted to it, and she was sure he knew it too, in fact she was pretty sure everyone in the party knew it, Verius made sure of that. But it seemed too early to admit to it publicly, even if most in her village had already made their assumptions; she didn't care to deny that fact anymore.

There was only one besides him that she could say she loved, if it could even have been considered that, but that one was lost to her even before she met him, and she dared not let herself start down that train of thought, not now, not in _his_ presence. The man before her had a way of reading her thoughts, and not in the creepy sort of way, but instead a way in which he could sense her sadness, confusion, even her uneasiness, but most importantly, her anger.(that last one had kept him alive so far.)

"It's kinda funny, it's like we switched roles," Zelos continued undaunted, as though oblivious to her surprise. "Instead of me being forced into an arranged marriage as the Chosen, it's you, the "Ninja Chief of Mizuho" and now you have to get hitched within a limited amount of time." He sighed in a "that's life" sort of way and shook his head in dismay. "Lame."

"I'm not exactly being forced into it," Sheena nearly growled, rather miffed by his lack of tact. "It's more of a dying wish than anything," she added in a low tone, the seriousness of the subject subduing her annoyance instantly. It occurred to her in that instant, this was how he chose to comfort her; she'd need to learn to accept it more readily rather then letting him catch her off guard like that again.

Zelos nodded approvingly after watching recollection dawn over her face. "Whatever will be, will be, Sheena." He smiled at her warmly, his face radiating understanding. The sunlight spilling in through the window added to the effect and it was all the more so fitting than before.

She nodded in agreement and gave way to a rare show of tears and bent to his level, allowing herself to be enveloped by him. He hushed her softly but said few words. He hated to see her in so much pain, but he had decided that he liked it better when she admitted to what was bothering her rather than holding everything in. As a ninja he knew she had been trained to do so, it was expected of her, but he still couldn't help feeling it a harsh fate.

In a strange sort of way, Zelos was happy that Sheena was finally able confide in someone, in him. And now, as he contemplated the situation in his arms, he could see clearly this woman's predicament, and how it had bothered her enough on its own, but now he understood that what had really plagued her mind, what had really ached in her heart was the thought of losing the one person that had taken her in and raised her as his own. This person, she would lose forever, and yet she would still need to remain strong enough to lead the village.

It was Sheena Fujibayashi's responsibility, after all, as the leader she needed to face all hardships with calm, decisive actions, and yet, Zelos feared she wouldn't make it that far. He feared that at the point of her grandfather's supposed death, Sheena would lose her senses altogether, falling into a pit of despair, one of which he did not think himself able to help her out of this time.

Well, he wasn't about to let that happen. After all, something couldn't happen if it was never given the chance to. "That's right," he continued and his smile remained as he held her trembling body closer. "And that's a promise, Princess," he whispered, nuzzling her hair affectionately.

Whether she associated his gentle words with his lived-by phrase or whether she was even coherent enough to comprehend his words was irrelevant, because it wasn't meant for her to understand the full meaning, at least, not yet.

o-o-o


	5. Hindrance

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ToS then don't you think I'd know Zelos' eye color? Hell I should know it anyway...Nope don't own.**

**- Chapter Five – Hindrance**

The familiar hum of the Rheairds cut through the silent fall of snow as the brown clad ninja and her red haired companion finally flew away from snowy city of Flanoir. Sheena had complied to Zelos' request and they stayed at the Inn for one more night in order for her to rest and recoup.

She was grateful that he hadn't brought the tender subject of her grandfather up again, at least, not so soon after her little display. She scowled down at the endless white below, she still felt disgusted with herself for breaking down like that.

She gave a sigh of displeasure. It couldn't be helped, she'd lived with the knowledge of her grandfather's illness for about a month now and she had forced herself not to cry thus far, that is, until confessing to Zelos what she had refrained from telling any other soul.

She glanced over at him as their transports droned between them and he returned it with an encouraging smile. Why was it, for certain people you loved, it was impossible to cry about them until another person confronted you about the situation, with pity or comfort in either word or gesture? Sheena wondered if Zelos knew the answer to this mystifying question, since he obviously knew the best way to respond to it. She guessed that was why he had a tendency to turn a dangerously serious subject into one of a superlative folly, or rather, she had learned this nature of his through experience.

Sheena quickly shook her head in order to rid herself of the trance that had settle there. Zelos merely smirked and returned his attention to their destination...which was, wait, what was it again? "Oy, Sheena," he called over the noise of the machines. "Aren't we getting pretty close?" He motioned to the ground, suggesting they should land and find out.

Thinking the same thing, she nodded in reply and they slowed the metal birds into a descent. Upon returning the Rheairds to their respective wing packs, Sheena surveyed their surroundings and produced a scroll of a map from her uniform.

Zelos drew beside her, his curious eyes among a smile lined with mischief. "What else you got in there?"

Sheena promptly whacked him over the head with the rolled up paper before unraveling it with a growl of annoyance, refusing to answer him for obvious reasons. Zelos cringed and covered his head in more of a submissive humor rather than reacting to any actual pain, after all, what was a crude imitation to a rolled up newspaper to a man that had withstood countless cuffs of wrath? Yeah, he was getting off easy.

A bit of an eye twitch had afflicted Sheena's progress somewhat as she scanned the layout of the continent. The map had been marked and inked in red by Flanoir's council, indicating each town and village she was meant to visit. Only one small town kept her from leaving this frigid environment, and small it was indeed. It had only just recently been developed, located somewhere on the border of the continent, and it was proving quite the trial in finding it.

The pair started forward on foot with Sheena's lead, map in her hands as their steps crunched over the white ground. "So, Zelos, I know we've sort of been over this already, but what exactly possessed you to request this sort of job from the king?" Sheena wanted to know. "I don't think you've clarified that yet."

"Oh, that," he mumbled offhandedly and turned his attention to her after curiously looking over their surroundings, a tad apprehensive. "I guess I just thought this would be a good opportunity for us to catch up." His handsome features brightened to a casual smirk. "So far I think I made a good decision, don't you?"

Rolling her eyes, Sheena regarded him with a look of disbelief. "Putting aside the fact that I know you so well- Oh and by the way, you're avoiding the question," she said between sentences and poked him in the shoulder before returning her eyes to the map. "Just what did you have in mind?"

Zelos gave a sound of amusement, cupping his hands behind his head as they continued onward through the snow. "Truth be told, I just wanted to spend some quality time with you, and with all the monsters running loose I thought you'd be safer if I came along."

With that thought Sheena decided to grant him an honest smile, choosing to ignore the first half of his explanation for the time being. "So you don't think I can handle a few monsters on my own?" What that implied was it's own danger, but a reply, if any, would need to be clever if not complimentary.

Zelos smiled back and was about to make his reply when he was suddenly distracted. "What's wrong?" Sheena questioned, on guard, but a tad suspicious due to some hard earned knowledge of the ex-Chosen's tactics.

"Shh, you hear that?" the redhead asked, his attention drawn to one direction as his hand rested on his sword hilt.

Sheena immediately took her fighting stance, her hands hovering over the seals at her side. A dead silent moment seemed to pass and neither moved an inch before soft, slow steps could be heard crunching the snow all around them. It was obvious, they were being ambushed, and what was worse, they couldn't see but ten feet in any direction due to the harsh element which held this continent forever prisoner.

Releasing the Rheairds to escape was out of the question, letting their guard down to do so for even a second could prove fatal.

Sheena growled in aggravation as she drew multiple pyre seals, prepared for the impending battle. "How is it you sensed them before me anyway? I'm supposed to be the ninja, remember?"

Zelos likewise drew his weapon, the length of his blade whistled as the metal met with the frozen atmosphere. He didn't reply at first, but instead suppressed his grin to a mere smirk as he closed his eyes in momentary concentration before his blaze of feathers erupted from his back. "Angel powers baby, dont'chya just love the whole package now?" He beamed at her with hopes of uplifting the dire situation.

Sheena decided to ignore his arrogance for the time being and simply settled to roll her eyes at him for the second time in the past five minutes. She set herself back to back with him, knowing that would be their best defense with their current circumstances. "I think the package could use some work," was her slightly belated reply.

After an amused chuckle and a questionable nudge, at least that's what Sheena thought about it, Zelos' voice didn't seem to crack or sputter nervously at all. "Hey, at least if it's too much for us to handle, we can always fly away."

At this statement Sheena looked as though she would roar, she may as well have from Zelos' proximity. "What? Zelos, why didn't you think of that earlier, we could have avoided this entire encounter!"

"But Sheena," he gasped as if appalled by her suggestion. "If I did that, I wouldn't be able to show off my new pimp plan."

Sheena's fist shook as she could hardly prevent herself from thumping her forehead, or his, for that matter. She didn't get the chance to reprimand him even if she wanted to, since that was the moment their opponents launched the attack. Sheena's teeth clenched and her ninja training forbid her to yelp when fangs and claws raked her flesh in a blur of white fur, which, ironically enough, was nearly impossible to distinguish from the snow.

The beast's victory was short lived however, as Sheena soon heard it's whimper and a thump, indicating it's death. In a matter of steps, Zelos returned to her back, lancing his blade in multiple arcs when a wolf would charge. "Oy, Sheena, that was just a decoy to confuse us, the main force is in front of me."

Resisting the urge to tend her new shoulder wound, Sheena joined her companion at his side, seals in hand as the wolves regrouped for a second charge.

"Aw crap, Sheena you're hurt! Why didn't you tell me?" Zelos shot her a worried look whilst fending off an attack from the side and looked as though he were about to cast a healing.

"No, I'm fine, just distract them long enough for me to summon," Sheena ordered and jumped backward and into her summoning stance.

"Oh yeah, burn em up Baby! Make em Fry!" Zelos smirked and obeyed, slashing and dodging as a wolf's teeth brushed ever so close to his arm.

"I call upon the red giant, the ruler of hellfire! Come! Efreet!"

What followed after those words were spoken was a rather obvious deduction and the outcome was only reinforced by the lack of movement on their enemies part.

The steam and fog cleared away slowly around the two as they worked on catching their breath, ever on the ready for another attack, however slight the chance was, but it never came as they both recovered. After waiting another moment just to be safe, Zelos helped Sheena to sit down, even though she made the point that she didn't need any, and proceeded to heal her. "I don't understand," Sheena murmured in confusion. "Wolves on this continent have never attacked us on the open plain before." She frowned, looking over the lifeless beasts with suspicion.

Zelos shrugged. "It's just the return of mana, the monsters everywhere are getting stronger and going crazy." Concentrating on the task of healing, he didn't seem to notice the tiny squeaks that he normally would have heard, but Sheena on the other hand, did, and barely after the wound had been mended she was on her feet and headed towards the noise. Much to Zelos' disapproval as he kept fussing over the wound even as she moved away. "Sheena," he whined and prolonged the sound as much as he dared, trailing behind her as she closed in on the small noise. "If I don't make sure it's closed then you're just gonna rip it open again."

"Yeah, yeah, just a minute," she replied and merely waved his statement off as if it was some kind of minor annoyance as she remained focused on locating the source of the tiny shrills.

All too quickly a heavy snow began to down the couple into a thick blanket, limiting their visibility to mere inches in each direction as their footfalls cracked over the fresh sheet of white. "Sheena," Zelos whined again, his attention averted around cautiously. "I think we should make camp, we don't know if there's more or not and-"

"Shh!" the ninja hissed, halting only slightly to do so before leading onward through the literal fog of white frost.

Zelos pouted due to his mite hatred of the substance but remained alert to any danger, because strangely enough, the falling snow seemed to cloak not only their vision, but it also dulled any other sounds. Sounds that were, at times, vital to hear.

Sheena could barely make out a slight incline in the carpet of snow and walked around it as it was soon looming above their heads. After touching it and with closer inspection it was found to be rock; they had made it to the border, but still with no town in sight.

Multiple yelps sounded again, only this time much louder, and closer, so much so that Zelos noticed them this time, but not soon enough, as Sheena darted suddenly and Zelos could only call after her before running to catch up, his sword steady in his grip as he had never even bothered to sheath it.

Darkness seemed foreign to her at that moment and it was indeed unexpected when exactly that opened up to her right, but she didn't have time to register that it was a cave, on the contrary, for the instant she grazed its entrance she had barely enough time to block when a low growl and then a snarl came forth with a white pelt armed with tooth and nail and aimed at her.

"Guardian!" Sheena heard Zelos bark from somewhere near her as she was completely enveloped by a green force field, the beast's attack harmlessly bounced off and was sent sprawling, albeit not for very long.

Sheena didn't hesitate to draw a specific card from among her arsenal of seals before the wolf regrouped. "Force Seal!"

Paralyzed and laying motionless on the ground, the wolf could only watch as the two humans invaded its home. After some glancing around the cave, Sheena's suspicions became reality in the form of a litter of wolf cubs, all huddled together in a corner and whimpering. "Zelos, what have we done?"

Zelos merely scoffed, his arms hung behind his head casually as he looked around, still watchful for anymore monsters. "Geez Sheena, they're just a bunch of monsters, it's not like the world will change any if we killed a few." After an, oddly enough, awkward silence for Zelos, he added, "besides, they attacked us, and we were just defending ourselves."

"No, it's like I said, we were never attacked by wolves on this continent before for a reason. We got too close to their den, and they were just protecting their cubs, and we killed them for that," Sheena deduced sadly. She could sense another hand in the attack, one of outright hostility, but decided to let the thought pass for now, as she knelt near the shivering pups.

She was about to touch one, the palest white one, a runt to be specific, when Zelos interrupted with a sound that resembled that of a dying cat. She regarded him with one look of annoyance brought to her eyes before she drew the runt from its litter mates. "Gah!" Zelos made another sound, this time of hopelessness as he spun around and raised his hands to the sky as though pleading. "I've lost her, she touched it!"

Sheena simply shook her head in disbelief at this display. "Zelos, don't start. Besides, it's not like they stand a chance of survival, and I want to at least save one." Holding the pup not much more than a foot away from her face, Sheena smiled when it regarded her with small bleary, yellow marbles and a yelp as it noticed how far from the ground it was.

Zelos' opinion on the matter seemed to soften at that moment as he watched her but he quickly found his reasoning again. "But Sheena, this isn't like Corrine, you have to feed it and baby it until it's big enough to hunt on its own."

Tucking the cub into her gi, Sheena ignored Zelos' objections and prepared to release the seal on the lone adult. "Are you coming? Or would you like to go another round with the wolf?"

Zelos sent her an odd look but nonetheless followed to stand beside her a safe distance away from the cave as he grumbled something or other about taking his chances.

Upon regaining its freedom, the wolf merely picked itself up and, bruised and beaten as it was, returned to the litter and curled itself around them, not even bothering to search for the missing one.

"Wow, she seems devastated," Zelos observed with a dead sort of sarcasm.

Sheena elbowed him in the ribs before marching off with hopes of making camp and tending to her new charge. "That's just the baby sitter, we probably killed the mother. _Idiot_," mumbling the title under her breath as she walked.

Zelos followed, glancing curiously between her and the cave. "Well if we ever have kids, remind me to never get a baby sitter, I'll just show the kid the knife cabinet and let fate decide."

"Zelos! Do you have any idea what you're implying?"

"What?" he asked, his hands in the air defensively. "We can always make more if the first ones kill themselves!"

Sheena smacked her forehead with one hand and waved a preventing hand with the other for him to just stop talking, because although she knew he was only joking; she just simply didn't care to continue this conversation.

o-o-o


	6. Summer

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ToS, Corrine never would have died, I would have massed produce a plushie of him, and you'd be able to summon Verius AND Aska in the game... Nope, I own nothing.**

**- Chapter Six – Summer**

The snow fell softly that night, and there, before a flickering campfire, Sheena prepared for bed after making haste of eating the dinner Zelos had cooked up. He had been automatically appointed for the job since the entire time after setting up camp, Sheena had spent every second on clumsily trying to get the cub to drink the milk out of a carton which Zelos had given her from his travel pack.

It turned out the wolf pup would only take the milk if it was offered by way of Sheena's finger, and with that technique it was simply content with any kind of nourishment. The ninja, in turn, had found it endearing and was more then happy to fuss over the little fur ball.

Among his cooking duties and the like, Zelos watched with interest and assumed that the distraction was probably the best thing for Sheena right now, at this point she just needed something to keep her mind away from her recent disturbances. Although it was a slight blow to his own confidence; he had originally thought himself to be enough of a distraction.

He withheld a sigh and moved to sit down beside her. "So you gonna name it?" he wondered as he reached over and touched its head, causing the tiny creature to change targets and bite down on the man's finger instead.

"Him," Sheena corrected, a bit annoyed with his interference. "And no, I haven't thought of anything yet."

The redhead frowned, disliking the feeling of the pressure that built around his finger, and pulled his hand away from the creature's underdeveloped jaws, provoking him into moaning irritably before Sheena took over once more. "Just please, don't name _him_ something lame, like_ Noishe_." Zelos appeared to almost choke on the name.

Sheena nearly whacked him over the head. "What's wrong with Noishe?"

Zelos waved his hand indifferently and decided not to answer. "Just name the runt already."

"Well, I'll need to think about it, maybe the name will come to me in my sleep," she replied, tucking herself and her charge neatly in her sleeping roll after the pup had decided he was no longer interested in the milk.

Their makeshift camp was a simple one, with two tents erected and a drape of sorts connecting the two in an attempt to save the campfire from any falling moisture which was, in the end, still destined to die out in such a cold climate. Zelos hadn't moved from his place beside her, and didn't plan to, until she glanced at him and gave him an expectant glare.

"I'm going, I'm going," he said without an argument, or an explanation, and crossed to his own bed roll. "Oh and try not to crush the poor guy in your sleep."

His words had been meant for humor, but at the sound of his implication Sheena's eyes went wide with worry. What if she slept too soundly to even notice the cub's whines? She never had to worry about that with Corrine, he had always been able to maneuver and avoid her nightly shifting habits. But this puppy, he was simply to small and helpless to know any better. As a test, she poked him, promptly generating a yelp out of the tiny creature. She sighed with relief; that was sure to wake her up.

In response to the high pitched sound Zelos made some sort of odd noise of his own, somewhere between a growl and a whimper as he covered his ears; apparently he thought he'd be hearing that sound all night long.

Sheena laughed inwardly, for some reason she wished the cub might be able to understand her words someday, as unlikely as that was, she couldn't help but feel a longing for that type of connection with him, to laugh and joke with. The longing to have a little companion to talk to had been rooted into her, and even now, the absence of such a constant companion was at first like that of a mighty stroke of agony which had since then dulled into an ache of lost memories.

At that moment, her thoughts of pain were scattered and with the familiar feel of a soft, warm little body nearby, sleep was suddenly not quite as lonely as before.

* * *

"_Hello, Old friend," Sheena greeted him warmly, neither surprise nor confusion apparent in her voice by his appearance. She had found herself among an open field of grass and multiple breeds of flowers, while the sun above was gracing everything with the vital heat in which it was empowered._

"_Sheena, why do you dream of summer when you are surrounded by winter?"_

"_Because. I feel... Warm."_

"_But are you happy? What I sense is indeed warmth, but an emptiness accompanies it... A void."_

_She frowned, knowing the answer but refusing to meet it._

_Verius came forward in one sweeping, but gentle motion and lowered his head to nudge her shoulder. How this was possible, Sheena hadn't a clue, but the paralysis by confusion had no rule in this realm and she embraced his large fox head. "You mustn't allow such a suffering to be sustained, the elements of love are flowing around you Sheena, I can feel it. So I ask you, why do you cling to that which is fated to expire?"_

_Sheena let a sad chuckle escape her lips. "I think I liked it better when you spoke outside of summon speech."_

_Verius tipped his head curiously but did not pay her statement a response. "I've come to warn you, what you sensed earlier was not a normal attack, there is One that wishes to do harm to you, perhaps indirectly, but that is for you to decipher on your own."_

_She nodded, absorbing the information but finding little consequence in it. "I'm not sure how to put this, but, am I... Fulfilling your expectations Verius? Is there something I'm lacking?"_

_If a fox could smile, this one did so, with a pride so full of mirth that it seemed unreal. "As long as you have love, Sheena, you lack nothing."_

* * *

Nighttime continued its dominion over the expanse of the camp and the only sound was that of the swordsman's steady breathing, no more than the width of a campfire away, as the deafening rain of frost made up some sort of background lullaby.

Brown eyes meeting blackness once more, Sheena stared at the tent cover that loomed over her head for a moment before looking around to find the cub in her charge. He slept soundly and curled up in the crook of her arm, his soft, white body moved ever so slightly in a rise and fall sequence as he breathed.

She smiled at the sight as her dream remained fresh in her mind and the name she sought had been altogether decided as far as she was concerned.

One reason for her negligence to notice details might have been due to the fact that she was still half asleep, that and the fact of it being so dark, regardless, Sheena hadn't noticed the changes underwent by the cub, a transformation both visible and otherwise.

"_A runt, no less?"_ Verius stood a good distance away, far enough that he could be seen but not heard. He watched over the human couple momentarily before another smile flowed over his beast-like features. _"So be it."_

* * *

Feeding the cub it's morning dose of milk, Sheena shrugged a blanket over her shoulders in hopes of retaining enough heat for both herself and the wolf pup in her lap. He squeaked and moaned his protest at the cold greeting of morning, but nonetheless decided he was indeed hungry when he was presented with milk after Sheena had dipped her finger in the thick liquid and offered it to him.

She had been quick to notice his curious new markings, and she was certain they weren't there the day before...Hints of light blue hinted around each paw, his tail the same shade with the very tip being that of a curious, and familiar, light green as well as the corners of his ears. Then came his face, it was the most fascinating difference of all, it was as if someone had painted the blue markings on with the delicate brush strokes of a master artist.

He also seemed more energetic, whether that was an added side effect combined with his other changes, or due to receiving much deprived sustenance, Sheena hadn't a clue, but all questions were shoved aside as the pup acted completely befuddled when Sheena wiggled her fingers in front of his snout, soon afterward he met her attack by rearing up and reaching out with his paws in imitation, only to stagger in a loss of balance, which was more or less altogether absent for a cub his size.

The young wolf's new markings and, seemingly new personality, prompted a light giggle from the summoner, and although she thought she suppressed the noise, after a glance over to her traveling companion, she noted how mistaken she was when she seen him awake and still laying in his bedroll. His chin propped on one hand as he observed with interest, and a bit of amusement, at Sheena's morning antics with the new addition to the ranks.

"Sorry," Sheena mended with a sheepish smile. "I didn't think I'd wake you."

Zelos waved her apology aside and moved to sit up, prepping himself to make a fire in order to get warmed up enough to get the day started. "I've been awake for awhile."

It was a few soothing words and strokes spent on the small creature before Sheena had even registered his words. She blinked, suddenly curious but vaguely suspicious. "Why?"

After casting a mild fire spell on the warm embers, Zelos smiled at her question. "Just watching you," he said, leaning his head over to flash her a smirk.

"That's... A little disturbing." One scrutiny and a raised eyebrow and Sheena knew he had been plotting something either very sneaky or something extremely stupid, or both in some circumstances. "Just what are you conspiring now?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Why Sheena, Hunny, you have _no_ idea." Mischievous wouldn't have done much justice to Zelos' features at that moment, and suspicious could hardly compare to Sheena's current scrutiny. "So," he said, intent on averting the subject so as not to be caught. "You come up with a name yet?"

The ninja looked dumbfounded for not much more than a split second as the recollection of the previous night dawned in her mind and she gazed back down to the one in question. "Verus," she said quietly, as though testing the name out before deciding. "I think I'll name him Verus."

A puzzled stare, coupled with a closer inspection of the wolf's new coloring, made up a very confused Zelos. "You mean like Verius, but shorter?" he wondered curiously, after all, what was with that missing syllable?

"I thought he might get offended if I gave his entire name to a runt," Sheena explained, and talked as though the said summon spirit was a real person and could actually take to displeasure.

"Well, I'll admit, it's better than Noishe," replied Zelos, his mind still in a fog of bewilderment in regards to the new markings around the canine's face.

"And just what's so wrong with the name Noishe? You never answered me."

Zelos sighed as though the subject tired him expensively. "To this day I still don't know for sure if Noishe is a boy or a girl!"

Sheena scoffed. "I know some people who can say the same about you!"

Their voices may have been rising but it was hardly due to any severity concerning the topic as Zelos shrugged, more or less taking the accusation as a compliment. "Ah, well, you know," he said as he bent down, his back to her so she couldn't discern what it was he was doing. "I do have a beautiful face," he drolled on and regained his height with one hand held out casually, his other hand hiding behind his back with deceit. "-like my voice-" Thwack!

So unsuspecting of the attack was Sheena that she regarded the fiery haired man with utter shock and disbelief as the frozen water slid down the collar of her shirt and even further down her back, causing her to cringe before an outburst. "Zelos!- What the hell?"

The former Chosen's plan had worked perfectly, and now he stood an even safer distance away from the ninja, an all to familiar and present smirk on his face as he was already preparing another sphere in his hands. "Let's settle this like civilized Tethe'allians, shall we Hunny?"

Whether the term was altogether correct anymore or not was irrelevant, a challenge was a challenge in Sheena's book. "You'll regret challenging me to a snowball fight," she said humorously and, only after tucking Verus safely in a nest of blankets, did she join her opponent on the open white plain to do battle. "Just because I only use seals in combat doesn't mean I wasn't trained with projectiles."

Zelos waited patiently as Sheena came forward even as she packed her own orb of the white substance. "Ah, but you forget, Love," he began, a sly tone and menacing eyes insinuated their own design. "Your target... Is me."

Not a moment later and the duel had officially commenced and Zelos was finding it a difficult thing to keep up with Sheena's mass production of snowballs, he had maybe one to her three, but he did have speed in his favor for a time, a master of ducking and stepping nimbly out of the way. He had nearly clipped her multiple times but, she too, was a blur of movement.

At some point it could be said that the summoner was getting the better of the swordsman, drenching him, his clothes, and much to his chagrin, his hair, not to mention she was utterly outperforming his accuracy.

This was becoming sadly apparent to the former Chosen, his breathing heavy as he bent forward and leaning on his knees. "T-time out," he gasped and frowned at the bangs hanging near his face as they dripped with cold moisture.

Sheena held her position at request, standing up straight and finding a sudden new interest in her fingernails. "Whenever you're ready," she said, an obvious lack of interest in her voice, and according to Zelos, an insulting lack of exhaustion.

Ignoring his own exhaustion, as well as the numbing in his hands, he smirked wildly; It was time to change tactics. Regardless of what it looked like, Sheena hadn't let her guard down, she was expecting something from him, not exactly sure what it was, but there were very few things Zelos would be able to do in order to catch her in a state of being unable to counter.

As Zelos stepped and lunged to get into a closer range, the ninja back flipped away from him, and planted at least two more ornaments of snow on his torso somewhere between mid flight and landing.

After a repeat of the same scenario for about the third time Sheena was really starting to wonder about the man's sanity, each attempt had ended with the same result. He would dive and she would oblige him with another snowball either aimed at his head or arms.

It was starting to get boring for Sheena after about the umpteenth time when she almost miscalculated his assault, and at that point she understood his point of attack and she was going to put a stop to it, besides, the game was getting ridiculous, Zelos was soaking wet, her own clothes were getting there, and she did not in any way wish to entertain him in ways only he could be entertained.

She read his movements and after anticipating another lunge she faded to the side, confusing him for good measure, and kicked into a somersault over his head.

Normally Zelos Wilder would be able to follow his opponent's movements without trouble due to the power of his Cruxis crystal but he had yet to dip into that reservoir of awareness from the curious gem. On the contrary, he was about to, but as it turned out, Sheena had him right where she wanted him and she didn't waste any time as she soared overhead and gripped both his shoulders, bringing him down to meet the ground with the force of her leap.

Sheena paused momentarily above him in an opposite parallel as recognition of the event spilled over her victim's eyes, as well as a hint of something else entirely, right before she leaped back and landed neatly and upright a few feet away. "Admit defeat," she announced as the obvious victor, her voice serious but betrayed by a light amusement on her face. "I'm right, you're wrong. Your gender remains unknown, and _Noishe_ is a _perfectly_ fine name," she added rapidly and glanced at him whenever she felt an added punctuation was needed. "Now for all your trouble, you get to wring yourself out."

A smile, the kind she liked to smack off his face, appeared, followed by what was expected. "Hun, for that kind of view, I'd go through all of that a hundred times."

He was promptly rewarded with a face full of snow and he likewise let out a pathetic scream. "Not the face!"

With that, she nodded with approval and left the man to his devises, her new responsibility was yelping about in the snow, how he'd found his way out of the mess of blankets, Sheena didn't care to conclude. At this point Verus had wandered a mere foot away from the tent, his head barely poking out over the thickness of the snow as he whined helplessly about his predicament.

Coming to his rescue Sheena wondered how he could hate the feeling of the snow so much if he was supposedly bred for the weather. She smiled at him, tilting her head curiously for a moment before walking right past him, wondering what he would do. Sure enough, the pup yelped up at her to come back and threw everything his little body had into following after her, attempting to hop into the grooves in the snow created by her footsteps.

He kept at it with certain determination that if he made enough noise then he would get her attention. But his yips and cries went untended for another moment until finally, he gave up in his pursuit and sat down, shivering with a constant, high pitched howl of a forlorn sadness.

Sheena could hardly contain herself when faced with such an adorable sight. She quickly scooped him up and went to sit down by the fire, holding the baby animal up to her face as he licked her nose in some sort of a thank you.

"I demand a rematch!" Zelos growled as he approached, trying desperately to retain at least a hint of seriousness as he twisted water out of his clothing and hair. "I wasn't at my full strength."

Sheena scoffed, waving the thought away as it departed. "Just sit down and dry off, we'll need to leave soon in order to find this missing village already," she said, glaring down at the map in her hands as she went on mumbling, "it's gotta be missing - can't even find the stupid thing."

Drying off by the fire was turning out to be quite the ordeal for Zelos as he clutched blankets around his shoulders with one hand while the other occupied a mug of warm liquid, if nothing else the latter was meant to regain some feeling in his hands.

Sheena had her own blanket wrapped around her body, the pup sleeping contentedly in her lap, as she further examined the map, trying to find some sense in it and deciphering where exactly they had already checked.

This went on for awhile, but with his teeth chattering in his skull, Zelos was sure he'd start sneezing with a new sickness if he didn't remedy the situation soon.

"Oy Shee-"

"No."

"But-"

"Forget it." Sheena didn't need to confirm his intentions, and she was not about to pity him either, after all, he's the one that suggested the game in the first place. It's his own fault if he got wet. All she needed to do was avoid those sad blue eyes, and that pouting lip, and all of that intensified shivering, not to mention his utterly pathetic whimpering-

"Sheeenaaa," he whined in persistence and leaned his shoulder towards hers.

That was enough to renew her resolution and Zelos was automatically pushed back to his spot. "I said forget it."

"So cruel." He pouted, but wasn't about to give up. After all, giving up was hardly Zelos Wilder's nature.

o-o-o

AN: Fwee! Snowball fight! (chucks snowballs at everyone that doesn't review, there's like 40 of you...roughly)


	7. Warnings

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except the wolf pup.**

AN: This chapter may include severe adorability(not an actual word) painfully cute antics and may cause eyes to water, some side effects include cooing, loss of ability to concentrate, and poor quality of coherent speech... Don't worry, you'll know what I mean when you get there.

**- Chapter Seven – Warnings**

Twenty pounds. That's how heavy Sheena's new pet was after only a week of caring for him. Once referred to as a runt, Verus could be seen leaping and bounding around in pursuit of a grasshopper. His rear in the air with his tail wagging playfully as his light blue paws came together with the earth over the small insect. Feeling it moving around under his pads, curiosity got the better of him, and he immediately moved his paws to inspect his catch, only to have it scramble away again.

Sheena watched contentedly from her spot on the grass a short distance away, a forest spreading out behind her and an open plain in front of her, the seashore beyond that. Even from so far away she could smell the salt in the air, carried by the wind from a few miles away. Without obstructions, the ocean could be seen with the sky above it failing in its attempt to mirror the water, spraying multiple colors over the blue with the sunset.

A rustling from behind her and Sheena glanced to see Zelos emerge from the brush, a load of firewood in his arms before depositing it into a pile on the ground and clapped his hands of any dirt they had collected from the chore. "Is he _still _at it?" the man wanted to know, his expression clumsy with astonishment as the wolf pup couldn't seem to capture his prey anymore.

Sheena nodded with a hint of a smile but little interest otherwise. "He caught it a few times but he keeps letting it go." The words came out, but it didn't seem as though she was the one that said them, her mind was elsewhere.

"I still don't understand how he grew so much, it's only been a week since we found him."

Sheena didn't reply to that, rather, her eyes remained fixed on the cub as he continued undaunted after the grasshopper, but after catching sight of a butterfly he quickly lost interest in the hopping bug and leaped up, swatting at the airborne insect instead.

"Sheena?" Zelos questioned worriedly after noting her broken gaze. "You alright?" He knelt down beside her and applied a hand to her cheek in a gesture of endearment but also served in checking her temperature.

Again the ninja did not reply, but had found a bitter sweetness in the moment as Verus, time after time, launched himself at his prey. She couldn't contain a sob among her new laughter after the wolf had knocked the butterfly out of the air, scrambling and pawing after it rapidly as it limped away for its life.

Zelos, a bit thrown off by the... Wait, what was that anyway, a mood swing maybe? She hadn't cried since they were in Flanoir, so naturally he was at a loss. He shook his head of the distraction and carefully pulled her to him in a comforting embrace, but she did not respond by submitting nor resisting towards the contact, and that in itself was confirmation enough for Zelos to know that something was wrong.

The new sound of sadness fused with laughter was hard for him to decipher, so much so that he didn't know whether he should smile or frown, either way he felt stupid. Her barely audible weeping was not getting better nor worse, in fact, time and again Zelos had to question whether she was actually crying or not, leaving him with little options and a brilliant lack of an explanation.

Luckily Verus was coming to the man's rescue as his ears perked up curiously, pivoting with the high pitched sound of Sheena's scarce cries. He immediately ran to her, almost tripping over his own paws in an awkward rush to get to her. Replying to her cries with his own inquisitive whines and chirps, he set himself in her lap, licking and nudging her hands with his short snout.

"Look Sheena, Verus is worried about you," Zelos observed, hoping to draw her out enough so that he might be able to better aid the situation. _"So am I,"_ he failed to mention. At least back in Flanoir he knew what the issue was before she broke down, but now he didn't know if she simply had a sudden loathing for sunsets or if something about Verus killing a helpless butterfly had some sort of offensive nature to it. Zelos scrutinized the little four legged animal for second before discarding that thought. The little fuzz ball could do no wrong in Sheena's eyes.

Verus yelped in something of a confirmation, gazing up to his surrogate mother with beaming yellow eyes with the sole purpose of radiating eagerness. He obviously couldn't comprehend the problem, but even as young as he was, he could still sense an imbalance in her.

The sky darkened and the moments lapsed as Zelos forced himself to stay silent until Sheena's breathing eased into a slow norm.

Sheena worked on synchronizing her breathing with his and concentrated on his heartbeat, because that was one thing that was steady and consistent, something she could actually believe in and cling to. At the same time she knew he wanted an answer for all of this, but until she understood why she felt like crying and laughing at the same time, she didn't trust herself to explain anything.

It wasn't of happiness or a sadness even, it was more of an emptiness, one of which Verius had warned her about and yet she had overlooked it, or rather, ignored it due to the harsh reality of the alternative.

She was just starting to accept the sanity of the situation, and all that it entailed, when it seemed that Zelos couldn't stand the silence anymore. "I was only gone a few minutes, did you really miss me that much hunny?" he joked between a chuckle and an exhale, referring to when he had left to fetch firewood, but he was getting desperate when nothing else seemed to be working.

Sheena addressed that question with a pathetic, short laugh as she wiped her eyes of the few tears that had collected there. "I told myself I wasn't going to cry anymore," she admitted, setting her jaw angrily but letting the tension go soon after, finally ready to make her explanation. "It's just, I feel like I shouldn't be allowed to be happy right now." For once, she was hoping for some encouraging feedback as she actually allowed herself to lean further against his chest, absently toying with one of his cascading red locks.

"And just what makes you think that?" Zelos wanted to know, obliging her silent request as his voice was renewed with a vibrant confidence. Resting his chin on her head, he closed his eyes solemnly as he spoke. "You're much more qualified to be happy than I am, you work hard, you care about everyone deserving, and even those not, even seemingly worthless monst-I mean animals," he mended the last part hastily with a sheepish grin, hoping to mask his mistake behind innocence.

Sheena smiled and took a deep breath to rid her lungs of any lingering hitch before speaking again. "He's not worthless, he makes me happy," she replied, looking down to the creature and noting warmly as the pup's ears twitched with every word she said.

"Yeah, he makes you so happy that you're forced to laugh when you cry, and I'm guessing the sole purpose in that is to confuse me by the way," he told her, and moaned inwardly, knowing their tender contact would soon end when he felt his mind sneaking ever so closely to the gutter. "So do you plan on telling me what's _really_ bothering you, or are you gonna let me hold you like this all night? Because to be honest, I think I could get used to-"

"Zelos."

"Yes Sheena?"

She sighed, already exasperated with him. "Don't make me smack you."

"Surely you wouldn't smack little old _me_,"

"Oh yes I would, especially if that hand moves even one more centimeter toward-"

"It's just your imagination, I assure you."

A growl of annoyance and Sheena pushed away from him, putting a screeching halt to that setting as she went about readjusting Verus on her lap. Due to the short attention span of a puppy, as well as a full day of romping about on the open field, he was a sad victim of sleep by now.

Letting her go without resistance, Zelos smiled, happy to have finally prevailed in improving her mood. Even if it would be short lived, since he could tell she was ready to talk at this point. And while waiting for her explanation he stood up and began to construct their campfire out of the half hazard pile of sticks and branches on the ground where he'd left them earlier.

The sun had long since dropped below the surface of the water, leaving only the moon and the stars to illuminate the night. That was hardly enough to ward of hungry monsters, or cook their dinner for that matter. So Zelos busied himself with both tasks, as had been his habit of late.

Sheena sighed in an eminent discomfort as she stroked Verus' head in hopes that the procedure would somehow make the words come easier. "After that last town we visited today," she began, watching blankly as the fire came to life in front of her. "There's not much else for me to do away from home until either the negotiations are decided throughout the circuit of settlements we just finished delivering the treaty to, or the king gives me another assignment. Either way that means I'll be returning home for a week or two."

"Well, that's a good thing isn't it? You'll get to spend more time with Igaguri right?" Zelos wondered while setting up a small pot over the fire, intending on cooking a stew.

"Yeah... I guess," Sheena's reply was distant, almost regretful.

"Somehow, I thought you'd be happier about that."

"I know I should want to spend as much time as I can with him... But this just isn't how I want to remember him after he dies, and so that's what makes it hard for me to go back and be reminded of his sickness every time I see him," she confessed shamefully. _"It's because I'm afraid, I'm afraid Zelos! Because I don't know what I should be thinking, what I should be feeling, or more importantly, what I should be doing." _Always the stubborn one, Sheena couldn't bring herself to admit that to him, or anyone, even accepting it herself was a trial; the fact that she was afraid of something that she couldn't even put into words.

"But I thought you said the rest of the village didn't know about his sickness, if it's that obvious how is it no one else suspects?" At this point Zelos was also in a conflict with himself, on the one hand he wanted her to say what it was that bothered her, but on the other it wasn't in his nature to encourage dwelling on things that could not be changed, only endured, and then forgotten.

"The rest of the village just thinks it's old age, what they don't know is that he only has a few months left," she answered, her eyes focused on the ground and void of any depth, her mind was slipping back into that pit of helplessness.

Zelos frowned, dismayed by the fact that Sheena really had no idea how much she was bringing him down with her. But he would fight it, with tooth and nail, and sword and fire if needed, whatever it took, he would do, in order for him to be that constant pillar of sanity for her, or otherwise in some cases.

As if on cue for his occupation as the distraction, Verus yawned, coming alive after smelling the beef in the stew Zelos had just started preparing. If it wasn't strange for a puppy to go from five pounds to twenty within the time span of a week, then it likewise wasn't very surprising when he had taken an immediate liking to meat. Aside from solving that mysterious barrier which prevented him from getting to that glorious type of food, he had also been able to conceive the bad habit of stealing morsels off a plate when one's head was turned. And he knew all too well which human to target; it was that man, stirring the pot with a stick, he was so stupid sometimes!

"Well, cheer up hunny," Zelos chirped, completely oblivious to the lower conspiring going on as he spoke, trying to regain his usual exuberance as he took a sip of the stew, testing its taste and texture "You only have to survive a couple weeks without me, you can manage that, right?"

Verus licked the air longingly from his spot on his caretaker's lap and looked up to her expectantly; as far as he was concerned, the food was all that mattered. Sheena, though, was not paying the cub any mind, instead she glared at the man across from her as he dished up the meal into three bowls. "I think the question is, will _you_ survive? Without my supervision, there's no telling how much trouble you'll get into once you go back to Meltokio."

As he moved to hand one bowl to her, something shifted in his heightened senses, something in the trees, but he did little more then glance in the direction, instead he masked his suspicion masterfully, sending her a wry grin. "Aw, Sheena, that's sweet, does that mean you'll be thinking about me while I'm away?"

"There's no way I'm admitting to that, you're ego is big enough already," was the raven haired woman's retort. She was oblivious to the disturbance, Zelos noted with relief as he set another bowl on the ground for Verus. And like a shot he was off of Sheena's lap, inhaled its contents, and was sitting in front of Zelos, all in a seemingly smooth, and well practiced, motion.

After glancing down to see those cute, yellow glowing eyes, Zelos, unaffectedly, spooned a portion of food into his mouth and afterward, merely stuck his tongue out at the animal. "Don't think so Bud."

"Oh yes, very mature Zelos."

"What?" the man asked, looking to her incredulously, which was a mistake in itself. "He ate already, for the love of mana, he is big enough!"

Suppressed laughter on Sheena's part alerted him all too belatedly of the wolf now lapping up what was left of his portion in the bowl, still in his hands. "Gah! Not again!" He glared daggers at the pup but Verus did little more than wag his tail before licking the man's nose and hightailing it back to Sheena, who herself, had just finished eating and started preparing for bed.

"One of these days Verus," Zelos grumbled jabbing a finger at the beast in accusation. Verus regarded him placidly, all innocence, but Zelos knew better and went on mumbling. "Little demon."

Sheena hadn't bothered to correct the cub, because apparently, she had found some sort of twisted enjoyment out of the performance each night.

Zelos waited as the two of them settled in for the night before looking to the forest in apprehension. He started for the path he'd used before but was caught even before taking two steps in that direction. "Zelos? Did you see something?" Sheena asked from her bed roll.

"Yeah, don't worry love, it's just a snake. I'll get it. Go back to sleep."

The summoner nodded tiredly and, without an argument, let her head loll back down to do as she was told, her eyes too worn out to be held open any longer, and her mind to weak to search his words for authenticity.

A few long moments through the woodland and Zelos paused immediately after walking into a clearing among the trees. He glancing up at the canopy with one hand hanging over the hilt of his weapon.

Another moment later and he smirked, closing his eyes in a blind confidence. "You're a lot like your brother," he observed favorably, perhaps attempting to ward off the intruder with sickly pleasantries. "You both seem to enjoy sneaking up behind me." Zelos turned to meet his guest, his blue eyes flashed with a greeting, taking in the form of a ninja in seconds. "Kuchinawa, was it?"

"Chosen," replied the said ninja, neither aggression nor peace reigned above his tone, he was here on equal terms; to negotiate, though the casual spinning of a throwing knife in one hand held the slight hiss of a warning in the air.

"Former," Zelos corrected shortly, waving his free hand around as though the title hindered him. Aside from the hand that gripped his sword, Zelos was all but a pleasant host to the exiled ninja, though behind his casual appearance slept a loathing of brimstone, awaiting its resurrection to blaze. This was the man that had made an attempt at Sheena's life, and in the world of Zelos Wilder, there were very few things with the power to reverse such a grudge. "Anyway, let's get straight to business shall we? What do you want with Sheena this time?"

"My business here does not involve the chief, well, not directly anyway," Kuchinawa answered, breaking eye contact with Zelos for a mere instant before they were once again locked on to either his expression, his stance, or the imprisoned blade at his side.

"Oh really?" Zelos question skeptically. "Then what, pray tell, is your business with me?" Since there was really nothing else at risk, unless of course the guy had something against wolves, but that was unlikely.

"It's very simple," the banished ninja started. "Stay away from Sheena, and I won't kill you."

Zelos flinched, nearly disgusted with the phrase. "Geez, that's kinda cliché don't ya think? I mean, am I sensing some sort of jealousy angle in all of this?"

"Hardly." The shuriken halted it's spin, leaving a dangerous silence between the two men.

"A man a few words I see," Zelos replied as a sneer slowly made its appearance on his features, but was promptly shrugged away. "Well, whatever the case, if Sheena allows it, then I don't plan on leaving her to travel alone, so whatever it is you planned on doing before you came here," he paused, long enough for his left hand to rest on his scabbard in preparation. "What say we just settle it now, before the tension has a chance to fester?"

Kuchinawa shifted, more or less slightly baffled by the challenge. "I do not plan on fighting you here. And if you do not heed my warning then I will kill you on my own terms."

"Now hold on a second will ya?" the swordsman growled. If there was one thing he couldn't wave a smirk at, it was when people dictated what _he_ was going to do, when _he _was going to do it, and how. Living with that sort of tyranny all his life, he was hardly going to simply smile and nod at the suggestion. "Maybe we can compromise on something, just give me an explanation."

"The threat should suffice."

"It doesn't."

Becoming rather vexed, Kuchinawa half turned, preparing to depart. "I have no grudge against you Chosen," said the male ninja, purposely avoiding the use of his name. "It simply doesn't matter to me whether you live or die, either way is fine by me."

"That's not an answer," Zelos accused curtly.

"As far as I'm concerned, you are not entitled to one." With that, the ninja was gone, a few leaves circled around in the disrupted air which he had occupied only seconds before.

"Not entitled to," Zelos repeated to himself, a distaste brought to him by the statement. "Like my freedom?" He listened to the soft breeze, as if awaiting the answer as it passed through the clearing. After a moment, he started his way back to Sheena, Kuchinawa's warning fresh in the redhead's mind but was swiftly dismissed with the wind. "What a joke."

o-o-o


	8. Departure

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ToS, there would be merchandise for it everywhere, I'm talking action figures, binders, caps, toothbrushes, comforters, oh and white headbands with Zelos' name in big, bold, red letters across it... with a heart. Heheh, as you can see that hasn't happened yet, so I own nothing.**

**- Chapter Eight – Departure**

Incense filled her senses as she knelt at Igaguri's beside, her eyes closed as though praying for his health as he slept. Sheena had only been there a short time, hoping, and fearing, for the chance to speak with him before Zelos arrived with the king's expected letter of recognition and newest assignment. She didn't know for certain that the redhead would be showing up today, but the time line since she had returned to Mizuho, and him to Meltokio, checked out. The treaty would need to be verified by now, and that job was unique for the emissary of peace.

Sighing softly in both relief and disappointment alike, Sheena murmured something of a farewell before bowing and moving to leave when she soon realized her grandfather was not as asleep as she had originally thought.

"Sheena, you weren't planning on leaving without speaking with me were you?" The man turned his head to her, but made no further movement.

"N-no, I just, I didn't want to wake you." After overcoming her surprise she smiled warmly towards him, an odd sadness mixed in as she returned to her position at his side.

"You know I only wish for your happiness, right?"

Well that came out of nowhere, but even so, she knew what it was he spoke of. "Yes Grandfather."

He sighed, a disappointment towards himself. "This request was not meant to cause you distress. But I fear that is what I've done."

"Your condition causes me more distress."

"Ah, and here we come full circle."

The female ninja remained silent and nodded with a bleak countenance, gazing downward.

"Sheena, if you do not branch off from me, then my nightmares will become reality."

"I know, Grandfather."

"You are eager to leave again." His statement was exactly that, an observation, though it seemed like it should have been formed as a question.

"Y-yes," she admitted. "The negotiations should be finished by now-"

"And you will meet with the Chosen to receive your appointments."

Again, the non-question formulated statement. "Like always," she confirmed, her tone insinuating boredom towards the subject, though a hint of suspicion hung in her mind; where was he going with this?

"And he will serve as your body guard for this time as well?"

"_Damn that information network. Oh, and **now** he decides to ask questions? How convenient."_ Sheena nodded stiffly, at least making an attempt at hiding her surprise and keeping her composure, what was left of it. "Is suppose so." She could barely refrain from flushing with embarrassment. It was such an insulting term, for a ninja to have a body guard, the very idea was ridiculous if one thought enough about it.

Before Igaguri had even worked out a response, a bit of a disturbance could be heard outside, it was a sound that was rarely heard in the village and thus both ninja inside the house knew the situation long before any inspection. "And that would be the Chosen now?"

Sheena looked at the aged man with a curious amusement. Sometimes when he spoke of late, he didn't seem very sick at all. The sneaky old goat, he probably faked most of it just so she wouldn't talk back, not that she did that very often anyway, but children will be children with their parents, even when their full grown. "I'll go check, but I won't leave without talking to you first."

He dismissed her with a nod and she bowed before departing from him. Even as the new chief, Sheena never allowed the respect he was due to go unattended. It was a natural thing for her anyway, and she never even thought about doing otherwise.

* * *

"No, I didn't mean it like that, honest! Verus and me, we go way back, we're best buds!" The blue eyed wonder knelt down and hugged the white wolf, hoping to win some sympathy but only managed in getting his face licked by the beast, who at the moment, had yet to hold a grudge against the man.

Two women nearby sneered at him and continued muttering to themselves. It turned out, most all of the women in Mizuho had immediately taken a liking to the wolf, more so than the man in question, as Verus was very well behaved with them. Oh how little they knew, but Zelos was not one to be fooled by the little, well, not quite so little anymore, monster. Thus when Zelos had referred to and greeted Verus as a runt, the two women within earshot had done little to quiet their voices in taking offense and rebuking the man.

Even as Sheena emerged from the chief's house, they went about complaining to her like chattering little monkeys, according to Zelos terminology of course, and strangely enough reminding him of some women in Meltokio. Sheena listened and quickly nodded, sending them on their way with a gesture. "You seem to have a way of disrupting women even when you're not hitting on them," she said with a dull amazement, coming to face him.

"Heh, it's my curse." He scratched his head sheepishly and smiled cutely.

"What did you say to them anyway?" she asked, perplexed by the behavior of her subordinates.

Zelos looked up, thoughtful, as the events only moments ago came to his recollection.

* * *

_After passing Mizuho's checkpoint with clearance from the guard, Zelos came face to face with a forty pound white wolf, oddly enough resembling Verus, sitting right in his path. Zelos looked at him, and the wolf looked back, both seeming to mirror each other with a cant of their heads. "Runt!" the man finally exclaimed with realization._

_Verus tilted his head the other direction, as if recollection was finally coming to him as well. He remembered this man well, it had been two weeks, but he remembered him. Lifting both front legs, Verus toppled the once steady swordsman, and ended up standing on his shoulders before licking his face affectionately._

"_Holy crap! You're huge!" Zelos didn't much appreciate either form of admiration, but surprise had settled his annoyance somewhat as he set to pushing the animal off. "Heavy too! Get **off.**" After ridding his chest of the monster, he sat upright on the ground, glancing around casually. "So, Sheena around?" he asked, almost as if expecting an answer of some sort._

_It wasn't until that moment that Zelos realized he was being watched when Verus' ears twitched and he looked to regard two female humans approaching, humans that would often give him tidbits and snacks, and so he wagged his tail as they came closer. Although he sensed they were unhappy and irate, he knew the anger wasn't aimed at him, thus continue wagging his tail he would._

_Verus' ears went back as the two women began screeching at the man. Zelos seemed to imitate the wolf as he flinched, awaiting his rescue._

* * *

Sheena sighed, rather annoyed by his long winded elaboration. "Anyway, you're late," she announced, rather indifferently as she swiped the newest letter from his hand.

"Ah, yeah, sorry hun, I overslept," he explained, hands behind his head in an apologetic pose. "I was having the most wonderful dream."

"_About a princess,"_ he chose not to add as he watched her read through the letter but then he glanced down to see Verus, who now sat between them, his head up and his eyes looking back and forth inquisitively. "So does he play fetch or do anything equally useful like that?" Verus let out a strange sound, like a whine but with an added tone of perplexity.

Sheena ignored his inquiry, deciding it better to stick to business instead. "It looks like in addition to revisiting the same circuit as before to confirm their agreement on the negotiations, the king has another assignment altogether, which will take at least a month if all goes as planned." She sighed, glancing over her shoulder at the former chief's house. "To be honest, I'm afraid of leaving him for so long."

Zelos dropped into a more relaxed stance and his eyes eased into a calm interest. "So when do you wanna leave?" He wasn't about to start down that road with her again, they had already confirmed the outcome; there was no reason to hamper her with sympathy.

"We can leave right away, I just need to say goodbye to Grandfather before we go."

She had already turned and was headed to the door when Zelos spoke up. "Would it be alright if I came too?" Sheena regarded him, at a loss for the sudden request.

She shifted her feet uncomfortably as she contemplated; there was really no reason to deny him admittance, the former chief would gladly see anyone for a short time. She mumbled something of a confirmation and nodded as she entered the house with Zelos behind her.

"Grandfather, I've come to say goodbye. Zelos is with me."

"The Chosen?" The former chief greeted the younger man and almost seemed to come to life with his visit, stepping out of bed as Sheena rushed to him in a fuss to assist him, but he shooed her away as he sat down.

Zelos greeted likewise, biting back a scowl. Why was it, even to this day, whenever he was confronted with a ninja from this village, he could not escape from that lousy title? He also struggled to keep a straight face and not cringe when Igaguri made a dismissive comment to Sheena. He almost wanted to say, "_Ouch,"_ but refrained from doing so as he could see Sheena's disappointment and apprehension as she nodded and left the two alone. And Zelos was indeed starting to feel very _alone_ as the woman he loved, departed from his side. He couldn't help but swallow, visibly nervous as he heard the front door slide shut. This wasn't what he had planned at _all_.

Sheena stood outside for a moment, Verus sat beside her, licking her hand in a comforting gesture as he could sense her uneasiness. She sat down at his silent request, patting him softly on the head, distracted. If Zelos didn't mind his mouth, things in there could turn very awry, very quickly. She shook her head fervently; the many outcomes were too terrifying to think about.

Instead she thought about how long her new assignment was going to take, blankly looking over the letter in her hands. There was a very_ real_ possibility that the elder man would pass away while she was gone. And with that thought she couldn't help but wonder what she would do without his guidance. With him gone and replaced by the full weight of her new responsibilities as the chief, she would no longer be able to go to him for advice.

And with the threat of that guidance suddenly disappearing, forever, how could she proceed? How could she live her life and hold her duties with any form of confidence? How could she face people that she would interact with everyday when they had no idea how to comfort her? She was afraid he had already given her the answer, she should have known all along the purpose his request would serve. What she needed was help, unconditional help and support.

Coming to accept that was another story altogether.

Verus lay beside her, his head in her lap in contentment before looking up to attention as Zelos stepped out and shut the door behind him. Sheena stood, shooting him a look of surprise. _"That didn't take long,"_ she thought. Was she sitting there engrossed in thought for that long? "How did that go?" she asked, looking him over for any serious injuries.

He gave an easy smile, but said nothing. Sheena studied him for a moment, wondering what exactly went on in there. But she found nothing of deceit in his pure blue orbs; he was hiding nothing from her. She knew if she questioned him, he would comply with the honest answer, the problem with that though, was having the gall to do so. Besides, there must have been a good reason for her to be dismissed, and she had to respect that. "Did he say he wanted to see me again?"

Zelos frowned a little, glancing downward before shaking his head side to side slightly.

"I see, then... We can leave."

Zelos perked up after hearing that. "Wonderful!" he declared, marching after her as they came to her house in seconds. "Oh and wait till you see what the research academy did to customize your Rheaird, Verus should fit perfectly on it now." He handed her the wing pack which housed her newly remodeled Rheaird after she came out from her house with what she needed for her travels, a light blush painting her face with the memory it brought.

* * *

"_Oy Sheena, let me borrow your Rheaird will ya?"_

"_What? Why?"_

"_Well with the rate he's growing," Zelos said, aiming a finger at the white-blue fluff ball. "You're gonna need somewhere to put him after two weeks."_

_Sheena hesitated momentarily but eventually handed it over, unaware of his plotting. "Well, ok, but only because I won't need to go anywhere until-"_

_He struck, with a speed unknown to her, and kissing her on the cheek for a time she couldn't comprehend, it was neither very short nor long. All her thoughts were on her failure to keep up, as well as any witnesses that might have been present due to the marvelous fact of their proximity to the village._

_And in a flash he had made his retreat, a retreat so organized that it seemed like he was in the air and on the metal bird in one motion. "You can miss me, you can love me, you can even lie about me, just don't hate me!" he hollered over the engine and the distance that now separated them. _

"_H-hey, get back here you- you..." She felt like screaming multiple profanities at him but knew that would attract too much unwanted attention from the village. "Coward!" she shouted after him as he flew away, his hand waving a farewell as he laughed._

* * *

"L-let's just go already, we're wasting daylight," stammered the raven-haired woman, obviously flustered as she started for the threshold of the village. The memory made her want to smack him on the shoulder or reprimand him about the act, but just like before, with such a high chance of witnesses she couldn't show him such attention, at least, not in public. Normally chastising him would be no problem, but it was having to specify about the details of the act, and in all honestly, it was just so much simpler to just let it go.

"Sure." Zelos smirked with a sly amusement, unaffected by any other emotion that may have been apparent in his eyes. He cared little about the customs that she was bound to. And just because she had to follow them didn't mean he had to, after all, it would be an utter shame if he started learning good habits now, just to have them forgotten later on, especially when most people already had there assumptions to gossip about. And as the saying goes: may as well give em something to gossip about.

"So, did you miss me?" he asked, changing the subject after they had passed Mizuho's entrance, Verus licking his farewells to the guard before catching up to them again.

"Yeah, actually I did," she said after fully regaining her composure, even going so far as to throw him a sideways smile and added, "at night."

"Huh?" Zelos appeared to stumble and nearly fell flat on his face over an invisible roadblock. Was he dreaming? Or possibly, hallucinating _about_ his dreams? "Say again?"

"At night," Sheena repeated simply, as though she were explaining the basic forces of gravity. "I missed your bickering with Verus at dinner time." She had to turn away in order to suppress her laughter as a glorious disappointment blossomed about the man's face.

"That was brutal Sheena," he grumbled, eying her with an impish malevolence. "You're getting off on this aren't you?"

The summoner shrugged, fighting back her grin with all her might but only managing to reserve it to a smile, thoroughly tickled with herself. "Hey, I can't help it if you're mind is in the gutter ninety percent of the time."

"I beg to differ, I like to think it's only half the time."

"Zelos, that's still not something to brag about..." Oh boy, this expedition was going to be absolute pandemonium, she could see it already. This inference was only confirmed the more so as Verus howled playfully and tried multiple times to seize the band around the swordsman's head, as he thought it to be a toy of some sort, leaping up each time in the possess.

"Hey, _buddy_, we gotta settle this right now, you don't mess with the headband, the face, or the hair, got it?" Zelos growled, shaking a hand around to indicate each division of his head.

More shouting and howls ensued, including a bit of running on Zelos' part while Verus took up the chase, but that was soon reversed when the wolf snatched up the loose fragment button on the man's outfit.

Sheena set herself comfortably on the ground for the show; she could already see that this would commence and continue until they were both panting their lungs out. Her outlook on the situation was simple: May as well let them wear themselves out, it meant less trouble for her later on.

"Sheeenaaa, help!" Zelos whined as Verus was now prancing circles around him, taunting him.

"What, are you kidding?" Sheena waved a hand at him and scoffed. "You're on your own, this is too funny." She looked to Verus, the wolf was in the playful pose; his front end lowered, his back end in the air, tail wagging happily with the button fragment in his mouth. "Go on Verus, make him work for it!"

Verus obliged, tossing the piece in the air and catching it again expertly, then looked to see if the challenge had been received. "You little monster!" Zelos growled for a second time and lunged, and thus the chase continued.

o-o-o


	9. Acquaintance

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ToS, Zelos wouldn't get picked on so badly in the game... I own nothing.**

**- Chapter Nine – Acquaintance**

It was late spring time on the restored earth of Symphonia, the rebirth of the plants and animal life had already begun. It seemed new settlements were being instituted everywhere, much to Sheena Fujibayashi's ire; all that meant for her was having to find them. And the task was to be done with very limited directions to go on. And so, like present, there was spent many a days wandering through a forest, or a blizzard in some cases, in order to find the small town or village in question.

Then there were her companions, a red haired swordsman, and a white-blue wolf. Both of whom were simply content to be in her company, and that helped her mood considerably, especially since they only got along with each other in order to please her; a mutual agreement of sorts.

It had already been a week since they departed from Mizuho in order to verify the treaty. With that part of her assignment done, Sheena now had to concentrate on locating and visiting all the new settlements in multiple assigned territories. After which a record would be kept of each village, containing information such as future developments, repairs, hazards and such, as well as offering Meltokio's assistance if possible.

Sheena raised her eyes to the sky, it was getting darker by the second, casting shadows among the trees and making the forest seem like an endless maze. Nighttime was one thing, but accompanied with it were luminous clouds overhead, indicating a possible spring rain was on the way. Thus coupling the darkness with a downpour, both of which would make it only that much harder to locate the town.

Sheena sighed. By now, she had learned when to call it a day, and her traveling companions never objected to an early dinner time.

Coming to a stop in a small clearing, Sheena estimated the area and whether or not they would have enough room for a campfire. They could make it work, but there would be no room for tents, and thus they would most likely be getting wet later on. Sheena frowned at the thought, she didn't much care for that idea, but a ninja didn't complain about comfort; she needed to keep reminding herself of that.

On the alert even now, Zelos likewise came to a halt beside her and looked to her in a rather hopeful question. "Let's stop here for the night, I need to write up my report to the king about the previous town," Sheena said, searching for a place to sit down against a tree before retrieving the tools needed for composing messages.

"You do that hun, I'll work on dinner." He gave her a smile, then he turned on Verus with recollection. "And you!" Verus whined, coming to attention as he had been digging a hole in the ground to make his nest. "I don't want to see any "extra" ingredients in the curry tonight, got it?"

Verus made a sad sound and his ears went back, his head down in a pout. Zelos nearly laughed in response. "Sorry bud, that stuff doesn't work on me- Ow!" His cry was more out of reflex than any actual pain, since Sheena had merely swatted at his head, grazing the hairs on his crown.

"Stop teasing him already, he hasn't done anything wrong."

"Yet," Zelos added in a grumbling and as Sheena retreated back to her spot he hissed at the wolf, "you spoiled brat!"

Verus simply lay where he was, looking around in innocence among his wagging tail, as though he hadn't heard the man's accusation nor did he seem to notice his continued mutterings. "Little pranksters, they're twerps, all of em."

Somewhere between dinner's preparation and the initial meal, Sheena could be seen scowling at, scribbling on, and crumpling up failed attempts. The final action seemed to make her feel better more than achieving any actual purpose, unless of course one considered the white sheets to be a nice decoration on the forest floor.

Zelos smirked, fighting back a chuckle as he fed Verus. "Don't kill yourself bud, Sheena would be real heartbroken," he mumbled under his breath and went to sit down beside the summoner, offering her a serving of her own. Verus not too far from them, took note of the insinuation but chose to ignore it for now, after all, the wolf had his ways of getting even.

Sheena momentarily declined the offered dish, choosing to set it down beside her before glaring at the paper in front of her again, as though it were an enemy in need of a pyre seal.

Zelos craned his neck to see what she had written so far, as though he were a child attempting to read something unfit for his eyes. After spooning some gravy in his mouth, he used the utensil to point at the places in question as he spoke. "You need to make the introduction more formal, and the conjunction about the recent fire and the well damage needs to be reformed." He tried to sound indifferent, but also confident in his advice. It was an odd way of helping, he thought, but he figured it was the only way she would accept the corrections.

Sheena looked at him, suspicious for a moment, but at this point she was more than ready to accept any kind of assistance. "Let's pretend for a moment that I actually know what you're talking about," she said, taking her eyes back to the page and scratching out the introduction specified. "What do you suggest?"

Zelos smiled, delighted that she would allow his tutelage in the matter. He began explaining the ins and outs of a more complex grammar format, but in a way that he hoped made sense to her. Meanwhile setting his dinner aside with little concern towards the wolf that no doubt had his mind set on gulping it down before it was even thought of again.

Sheena listened to his explanations, and tried not to feel like a complete idiot when she asked a question. She knew Zelos had studied at the Imperial Research Academy, but he seemed to know more than she had ever given him credit for. "I thought you were only good at math?" she questioned with a curious tilt to her features.

"Well, I get by with what I know, but those tests Raine had were _insane! _Poor Lloyd, he never stood a chance." Zelos sighed, shaking his head in a hopeless jest. "But with the help of the Great Professor Zelos, you'll be writing flawless reports to the king in no time!"

"Oh great, the _Professor_ title again," Sheena muttered sarcastically, though the memories of their travels with the group brought a wave of contentment to her mind, and she decided to humor him. "So then, "Professor", since I reformed the hazard details, where do I put the damage reports?"

Zelos was about to answer her when a far off, metallic whir disrupted the air. Verus erupted into snarls only a second before the swordsman had unsheathed his weapon to deflect the attack. He was successful, except for one, small, round blade plate as it dug into his shoulder, luckily missing any vital arteries.

Sheena was on her feet by the time Zelos had, not so tenderly, extracted the projectile from his flesh and joined her to meet their assailant. Verus was a fit of snarls and growls, his nape unsettled in agitation. "Who's there?" Sheena demanded angrily as her eyes darted around, searching the darkness. She couldn't see the intruder, but she could sense him now that she was aware of his presence. "Identify yourself!" If that was not complied with then she was prepared to summon Luna if the situation called for it.

What had enraged her the most was the fact that he was obviously a ninja, no one else could utilize throwing stars with such expertise. And the fact that it was a surprise attack that she hadn't been able to stop, was an additional blow to her heritage. She had been a few seconds too late, and Zelos might have been seriously wounded if he hadn't deflected the shuriken himself.

"I would have expected you to deflect them all," announced the assailant. According to the sound of his voice and the direction Verus looked, the ninja was no longer in the trees, where the attack had sprang, but on the ground as he came forth.

"Wait, what are you talking about? Zelos did better than me and _I'm_ the ninja! How do you expect him to deflect it when he wasn't even expecting the attack?" Sheena growled in reply. She knew that voice, but her recollection was hindered by the velocity in which the situation moved.

"No, he's right," Zelos said, glaring repugnantly at the shadow of the man that could only be seen when not focused on him. "I should have been expecting that."

Sheena spent a risky glance to her comrade, incredulous with confusion as the voice and the face came to her mind in remembrance. She shot her attention back to the shadows. "Kuchinawa!" So many questions flooded her thoughts that she wasn't able to get them all out coherently. "What's going on? Why are you attacking Zelos?"

The male ninja stepped into view at the sound of his name, more of the same weapons held at the ready in one hand. "That's not something I'm inclined to tell you, besides, it's of little consequence. Even if he dies, you're going to do your duty as Mizuho's leader, regardless of any outcome." His tone was taut with little interest in patience, causing Zelos to sigh between the exchange; he knew this wasn't going to get very far.

"Kuchinawa, that's crazy! You have to have a good reason for doing this... Does this have to do with your parents again? Because I thought we both had already come to terms with this!" Sheena shouted, her fists thrusting around and gesturing in the forms of a plea. She didn't want to fight him again, not if there was a way to resolve the difference peacefully, though the initial attack had already aggravated her enough.

The offender paused for what seemed like an entire moment, as though contemplating the reckoning for any truth. "I no longer hold a grudge against you for that, in fact, I openly acknowledge you as Mizuho's chief."

"Well- Well then why all this? If you truly accepted me as the leader then you should obey me!" Sheena was starting to feel desperate, she could sense that he was slipping away, and that she would soon be left without answers.

"You know very well that I'm not obligated to do that, I may acknowledge you, but I'm still an outcast," he replied simply, after leaping up to a branch and causing it creaked as he turned to leave.

"H-Hold on! At least tell us your reasons for doing this!"

"If you must know, I don't believe that man has any right to be sticking his nose into Mizuho's affairs, no outsider does," Kuchinawa hissed, deciding it wouldn't hurt to clarify his objectives somewhat. "I've already warned him once, he should have known better this time."

Sheena shot the redhead another questionable look but quickly chose to ignore the information for now. Instead jumping right back to the argument. "He helped with the world's restoration! What other right does he need?"

"He was a traitor."

"You're one to talk! And why are you sticking _your_ nose into Mizuho's business when _you're_ exiled?" Sheena felt like all out attacking this man now, the man she grew up with, trained with, grieved with. She didn't know him anymore, she couldn't recognize him, his voice was like a fragment left over from his former self. He was nothing but a hypocrite, an exiled ninja from Mizuho with nothing better to do then to perform his own manner of twisted justice.

The forest began to rattle as the rain came down, adding even more so to Sheena's dampening mood. This summoner was through talking. Extracting a number of cards, a fury grew within her; had he learned nothing since they last fought?

"I have my reasons. But I can see you're no longer in the mood for chit-chat, so I'll be leaving. This was merely your last warning. Next time, I _will_ kill you." The threat was obviously aimed at Zelos, even if Kuchinawa's glare could not be traced.

Without another word, Kuchinawa had disappeared into the downpour. Verus barked and proceeded in taking up the pursuit before a word from Sheena held him from moving any further from camp. The wolf moaned irritably, slinking back to his spot as the water had already begun soaking into his fur.

"He attacked you before, and you didn't tell me?" Sheena started, unmoving from her spot. "Zelos we could have sent out multiple teams and captured him, this is serious!"

"No that wouldn't be right, what he said was true, it's my own fault that he's out to kill me," he told her with a hint too much of a forced humor in his tone. His fake smile faded to a frown as he noted the worry in her dark eyes. "You had enough on your plate as it was, and I didn't want to bother you with something you couldn't change."

"What are you talking about? If I knew he was out to kill you I might have been more alert to the possibility of an attack!" Moisture dripped violently from her bangs as she jerked to stare at him, seemingly unaffected by the downpour. Anger and terror vied for dominance over her troubled features as they both stood there in a silent conversation of trust and attachment.

Zelos knew that fear well. It was the core element in both emotions present with her. She was afraid to lose him, and yet, she was angry because she couldn't control that fear. She had nearly lost him once already, so what right did he have to toy with such a threat? It seemed the great Zelos Wilder had made a mistake.

A big ugly mistake that he didn't trust himself to correct until her piercing eyes had softened and released him. Sheena sighed, finally taking into account the water threating to engulf them as she turned away, and proceeded in summoning Undine to aid in calming the turbulent weather. _"As you wish,"_ the spirit ratified and ascended above the trees, holding back the rain from entering the campsite below.

Sheena sunk down into her previous spot, her back against the tree. She cupped her hands about her forehead and bangs and gave a growl of aggravation. It seemed like it was just one thing after another!

Verus howled sadly in reply and went to curl himself into a ball beside her while, at the same time, Zelos knelt in front of her. His was a guilty, apologetic gaze, with an oddly placed smile, a small one mind you, but it was a smile nonetheless. "Sorry hunny, I just hate to see that pretty head of yours upset, especially when it makes the rest of you so hostile."

For that, Sheena couldn't help but reward him with a curved lip and a gentle laugh upon meeting his eyes again. "You're just lucky he wasn't really trying to kill you this time." She leaned forward after noting the small wound at his shoulder, her fingers touching it lightly in a mild show of concern, but it was more of an action done when distracted. "But the next time... I don't-"

"I know," Zelos said, taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze as a reassuring gesture to mirror his words. "But it's like I've already told him, if you allow me to accompany you, then that's what I'll be doing. His threats don't scare me, and as it is, I'm fed up with my life being dictated as though it weren't even my own."

Sheena heard his explanation, but her mind was already focused on his ultimatum. The solution was a simple one, but she knew making him agree and comply to it was a different matter. "Maybe," Sheena began, taking a slow breath as she couldn't bring herself to look at him. "For now, maybe it would be best if you left me to this assignment alone. At least until we're able to apprehend him."

"Is that... really what you want?"

_"No."_ Sheena nodded stiffly, her brows furrowed under a strain she could not pinpoint.

Zelos frowned, tilting his head and trying to catch her eye but failing. "Ok, well, that's that then isn't it? I guess if there's no way to change your mind," he rattled off casually as he stood and looked to a split in the trees that would serve as his path. "Then I'll be on my way. Take care of her, Verus."

And just like that he was gone, white and pink was soon tainted with darkness in a shower of heavy rain. Leaving the summoner and the wolf to look after him in a sudden stroke of both surprise and loneliness alike.

Resting her head back against the bark in anticipation of the immanent flood, of which Undine would be forced to release upon her dismissal, Sheena hoped that she wasn't getting sick or delusional. Maybe that was it, maybe this was all just a bad dream, it had to be, because the Zelos she knew would have never given up that easily.

With the determination that she would wake up in the morning and have everything back to normal again, relatively anyway, Sheena closed her eyes against the cold barrage of rain, not even bothering to cover herself with a blanket. After all, it was nothing more than a dream, right?

* * *

Oh that man was going to pay! Sheena sneezed, wiped her nose, and trudged onward. Her head ached, and her vision blurred, due to the flaring in her nostrils, and she was sure that the forest floor was swaying underneath her. She was sick, and it was all his fault! How dare he trick her into an alternate reality by obeying her without an argument!

The skies were blue, the sun was bright, and the ninja's mood was anything from reflecting that.

Verus whined from beside her, but Sheena hardly payed any mind to whether it was out of sadness or excitement, and thus his warning went on without heed. She was simply too aggravated and miserable to care.

"Oy, Sheena!" The woman froze, at first, the voice didn't register, then the reality she had finally just accepted began to crumble in her aching head as she turned to see the blue eyed swordsman approach. "I found the village, c'mon it's this way." Zelos grabbed her wrist, intending to lead her to his find but was met with resistance.

"Zelos! What the- What are you doing coming back? I thought we agreed-"

He indeed noticed her unusual fatigue and quickly cast her a sly smile. "You have two choices, either follow me, or I carry you. Which is it?"

"Wha- Now you're not making any sense at all! Answer me you idiot!"

"Carry it is, then."

"Zelos!"

Their bickering went on for awhile, it was more one sided shouting on Sheena's part as she demanded to be put down. She had just threatened him with a seal when he finally set her down, right outside the village. Naught but a smug look about him, Zelos announced their arrival and Sheena halted her attack as her feet touched the ground, a bit unsteadily, but she refused to admit that.

The ninja huffed at the swordsman and she stormed off towards the entrance. She didn't know what to do with him, she wanted to smack him and hug him at the same time. She was happy that he came back, but was also distressed by it through an ironic twist. Thus confusion was hardly a worthy term for her nerves at present. His abrupt departure the night before finally made sense to her; he hadn't intended on leaving at all.

As she marched forward irritably, Zelos kept pace with her, and so unsuspecting and sudden was it, that they froze in their steps as they came face to face with their former white-haired companions.

o-o-o


	10. Togetherness

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ToS then I would be able to draw Sheena and Zelos _without_ reference, thus I own nothing.**

AN: Hey guys! I got a pic of Verus uploaded on Deviantart, go to my lookup for the link when you get the chance.:D You may also enjoy seeing Zelos in wolf form while your there.:P

**- Chapter Ten – Togetherness**

"Raine?" Sheena blinked, dumbfounded by the sight of another former companion.

"Twerp?" Zelos tipped his head to one side in a curious greeting to the short half-elf.

"Zelos and-" Raine started and Genis finished for her.

"And Sheena?"

"_Together?"_ the siblings both added in a united stagger

Zelos grinned. "Yep, she can't keep her hands off me," he crooned, wrapping one arm around Sheena's waist, only to be smacked in return. "See! See what I mean?"

Genis nearly doubled over, doing absolutely nothing to subdue his laughter. "That never gets old!"

Zelos glared at the boy, then glanced down to see Verus standing nearby. "Verus, sick him!"

"What the- Aah!" Genis screamed pathetically as the beast came at him. And then it was Zelos' turn to laugh.

Raine watched placidly as her little brother was tackled by the white wolf and afterward was promptly licked to death. The healer switched her gaze back to Sheena, who seemed only momentarily distracted by the event as Raine came towards her and led her a few steps away. "Sheena, what's going on? You're reaction time was five seconds off," Raine questioned, her tone flat with a bored seriousness. How or why she was able to notice such minute details was a forever mystery.

"What are you talking about? I was just thrown off because I'm sick!... And, Zelos has been behaving himself up until now, well... mostly." Sheena's mind wandered to the few incidents when he'd crossed the line, but apparently the doubt in her voice was about to be taken to a different level completely.

"You're sick?" Raine questioned, suddenly very interested among her suspicion, her eyes darting back and forth between her and Zelos. "You don't mean-"

Sheena may as well have been drowning in red paint, as her face went completely crimson with that suggestion. "N-no not that! It rained last night, and I didn't have the sense to cover my head, so I got sick!"

"Oh... Good." Raine sighed with relief. "That man has no right to be raising a child."

This sent Sheena's mind on a temporary memory trip to when Zelos had said something or other about a knife cabinet... And she was suddenly unable to argue the matter, instead, she could only find herself nodding silently in agreement as the heat departed from her face.

At this point Zelos had grown a suspicion of his own and he knelt down beside Genis, who was still sitting on the ground and petting Verus. "Uh-oh, looks like the beautiful witch and the sexy banshee are conspiring... That can only spell doom for us."

"You mean doom for _you_," Genis corrected, laughing as Verus licked his face again. "I only get smacked if I say something stupid. All you have to do is_ look_ at a woman the wrong way, and... Whack!"

Zelos instinctively cringed. "Don't remind me!"

"This guy reminds me of Noishe," Genis declared happily as he hugged Verus around the neck, his face pressed up side to side against the wolf's.

"He's nothing _like_ Noishe!" Zelos growled. "Noishe was never an evil, plotting, little demon!"

Genis' eyes looked to Verus' and visa a versa in an innocent inquiry, broken only when Verus turned and licked the boy's nose. Genis in turn laughed outright. "Are you kidding? No way, he's just an attention hog!"

Zelos grumbled incoherent curses as he stood up to meet the women. "So ladies? What's the master plan?"

"Well, Raine and Genis are still working on a peaceful solution against half-elf discrimination, and our paths coincide for awhile," Sheena explained. "So it probably won't hurt the situation any if we travel together until our destinations change."

"Oh great, traveling with _this_ guy again..." Genis moaned with a distasteful sarcasm as he motioned at the redhead.

"Oy, Twerp, shut up."

"I'm not a twerp! I'm growing everyday!"

"Oy, Brat, I said shut up."

"Argh!" Genis scratched his head madly, then looked to Verus and aimed a finger at Zelos. "Get him!"

Both teenager and wolf piled onto the man, and it seemed Verus was happy to listen to anyone if it meant he could jump on someone. "Verus you traitor!" Zelos cried.

"Oh dear, please tell me this isn't how it's going to be the whole time?" Raine sighed, rubbing her forehead of the ache which had settled there due to the screams and other disrupting noises.

Sheena fell into step with the half-elven woman as they proceeded further into the village. "It kinda reminds you of the good old times doesn't it?"

"There was hardly anything _good_ about them."

Sheena didn't reply this time, instead she glanced back to see Zelos laughing in his hysterics as Genis tickled him, Verus barking wildly in his own form of support. With that sight, Sheena's opinion on the matter was softened and molded differently. Zelos was much better with kids than anyone really gave him credit for; like so many other things.

* * *

A few days after meeting up, the foursome, plus wolf, could be seen setting up camp en route to their next destination. Raine was forced to stay far away from the food preparations, and Sheena likewise kept her distance due to her passing head cold. Thus circumstances gave the two women a bit too much of unwanted time to talk with one another during the closing of each day.

Peeling potatoes on the other side of the campfire, all three males in the group sat, Verus on one side of Zelos, Genis on the other. "No Verus," Zelos often grumbled to the whimpering wolf. "You're not getting any freebies from me, so just forget it."

Verus replied with a bark and a paw on the man's arm, the one which held a half peeled potato, demanding recognition. "Oy, Sheena doesn't give me any freebies, so why should I give you any?"

"What are you talking abou- Oh... Heh, that's pretty sad Zelos," Genis gibed between a chuckle.

"Isn't it though?" Zelos exclaimed, as though the fact itself was some sort of crime.

Sheena and Raine could hear them talking over the crackling campfire but could not make out the words unless concentrated on. Sheena smiled as she observed for a moment to see Genis toss Verus a small slice of the vegetable, causing Zelos to erupt in reprimands, which Genis returned with thrusting his tongue out at the man.

The display was one of many between the trio. Their antics never seemed to cease. It was a lot like their travels from not so long ago. Sheena looked up to the stars, her smile remained, yet her eyes watered with numerous memories, all of them a mixture of good and bad, yet together as one magnificent chapter in her life.

Beside her, Raine sat, a book in her hands, her staff giving off a white glow behind her for the needed light to read. She glanced over to see Sheena's odd expression, perhaps her eyes were still watering from her cold? No, she hadn't had any symptoms of her cold for a few hours now; this was something else entirely. Lowering her book a fraction, Raine questioned in a bit of an exhausted fashion, "what's the problem this time?"

"What? Oh, um, nothing! I just-" Sheena sighed, wiping her eyes clear of any loose tears. "Raine, do you ever miss being with the group, you know, during the restoration?" She laughed softly. "Even though it got really crazy most the time, I still... miss it, you know?" She really was trying to fill the gap with this reserved woman, since they had never really been very close, both had always found it a difficult thing to communicate comfortably.

Raine seemed to give this some thought for a moment. "I do miss seeing my two students everyday, this is true, but I don't miss all the noise."

"The noise was nice, it made me forget about all the problems we faced," Sheena said and added softly, "problems I had to face..."

Raine delayed her reply, shifting to get a better focus on the younger woman. "Sheena, is there something going on between you two?" She shot an indicating glance to Zelos once Sheena had made eye contact with her. "Something is different. It's not obvious, but I can definitely see that something is... out of place. And don't tell me it's because of your cold." The half-elf waved her hand and aimed a pointed warning to her tone, as though any excuse to come annoyed her.

"It's... complicated," Sheena said, hesitant. "And most of the situation is suppose to be classified, aside from those involved."

"Well, with that little display during the final battle, it would have been safe to assume that you two were getting along quite well," Raine remarked blatantly. "So my question now is: What has happened since then?"

"Without naming specifics," Sheena said rapidly, but only after overcoming her initial embarrassment a moment later. "Recent events have made me realize that he just wants to protect me, and although I can understand that, I'm just not used to it. And I have a hard time reacting to it."

"He just sounds like the average man to me, I don't understand the problem. Does he help you? And by that I mean besides cooking dinner."

Sheena momentarily thought back to their interrupted grammar session. Oh spirits, she was not mentioning_that_ in front of Raine. The professor would probably immediately set out to giving her private lessons until they parted ways. So instead, she simply answered, "yeah, he does."

"Even at that, it sounds to me that you two still have a lot to work out. But just remember, this is coming from a woman that, presently, has absolutely no faith in the male species."

Sheena chose to ignore her last comment, mostly. A hint of a smirk couldn't hurt matters. "But you know how hard it is to keep Zelos on topic. If it's something he doesn't want to bother with, then he just makes a joke out of it."

"Exactly, and that's why I'm not romantically involved with him. You are."

"It sounds weird when you put it like that," Sheena muttered.

"How else would you have me put it?"

Sheena sighed, ready to put the issue to rest for now. "Never mind." It seemed like she could never successfully talk to Raine without turning the subject into a debate of some sort.

A rift of silence passed over them, not exactly an uncomfortable one, rather, it was something they had both simply become accustomed to throughout their time together among the group. And it would last until one of their male companions announced dinner.

* * *

Zelos knew the condition of each of his companions as he sat, keeping a protective gaze over all of them as his night watch shift continued. The professor, sleeping like the smart, efficient woman that she was. The twerp, half dozed with the mutt's snout resting on the boy's stomach. That only left the ninja, her restless tossing and turning did not go unnoticed by him, and when she stirred he turned to inspect the situation.

Sheena coughed and sighed in defeat, there would be no sleeping for awhile; if it wasn't her fading illness then it was her mind keeping her from the dark realm of unconsciousness.

After untangling herself from her sleeping arrangement, which was now a twisted mess of a blanket plus sleeping bag, she stood and her eyes swept the camp, almost immediately centering on the man's soft gaze which seemed to watch her with a delicate interest.

With the window to their thoughts held together momentarily, Kuchinawa's recent assault still passed between them over the red-orange blaze in an unspoken conclusion. Zelos knew the thought still ate away at her, and Sheena was fairly certain that Zelos had the same thing on his mind, after all, who didn't get stressed when they had a death threat on their head? Oh, oh yes, it was that redhead over there, he never took anything seriously, right?

Eye contact was broken just as fast as it had been issued and Sheena crossed over the campground without a word. Whether the lack of an explanation was due to the courtesy of their sleeping companions or not, Zelos couldn't decipher, but with her facial expression alone he could see her anxiety even as she walked away.

As events unfolded over the course of the past few days, Verus had made a new best friend, and thus he decided to sleep with Genis. When the wolf shifted his head to watch Sheena move a small ways from camp, Genis likewise awakened in a bleary orange wave due to the campfire's flashes. Unmoving, he watched Zelos get up from his spot as the sentry, and joined the woman on the border of camp, where darkness danced with light.

Sheena said something of an acknowledgment and Zelos moved even closer to her. Genis tried to listen for any key words, but over the crackling of the burning wood nearby, he could only hear their soft murmurs. He glanced over to his sister to see that she was sleeping soundly in her bedroll.

The young warlock was suddenly disinterested in the development, he deduced that whatever they had to say to each other at this time of night, when everyone was supposedly asleep, was meant to be kept private. Adding to this theory even more, it seemed that Verus wasn't worried in the least, his ears held back, indicating he was still attentive to the whereabouts of his mistress, but otherwise unconcerned.

As Zelos went to her, his steps were quieted by an attentive awareness towards his sleeping friends. "Couldn't sleep?" he murmured to her and observed as she shook her head in confirmation. "Do you wanna talk about it?" He shifted in his station behind her, his wording a bit apprehensive as the ninja met his gaze. The colors of earth met that of sky, and worry likewise met concern; the similarities between the two were many, however, while one worried about the future, the other concerned himself with the present.

Sheena took a deep soothing breath as the night air grew colder by the minute. "Not really," she answered in a similar volume. The atmosphere around the two was calm, the crickets giving off that unusual rattle to accompany the snapping campfire among the silence of the open plain.

Zelos drew a mild shrug, that was fine by him, there wasn't much to discuss anyway. They had already deduced the outcome of the situation if he stayed, and in one way or another it had been decided that he wasn't going anywhere, so it was a frivolous discussion, and Sheena apparently knew that, and was no longer willing to press the matter.

"You'll catch another cold if you stay out here much longer," he said, snaking his arms about her waist and setting his chin on her shoulder as he cooed cutely. "Hm, never mind, you're warm."

"H-hey! Would you knock it off already?" she nearly shouted by the sudden intimate contact, and could only hope that her surprise had not been evident in her voice.

"Shh, do you want to wake up our sleeping friends?"

"No," she hissed back. "But-

"Then be nice."

"_You_ be nice." Sheena seethed, nearly rolling her eyes after she realized the flaw in her wording.

"I am being nice," Zelos chirped in reply, his eyes closed with a grin.

"You know what I mean," she growled, her own eyes narrowed irritably, though her tone implied something of humor amid the warning. She had to admit, she was oddly comfortable with him at the moment, so long as he didn't do anything else-

"Do I?" he wondered, dangerously sly for a playful tone as he rubbed his cheek against hers and crept ever so steadily towards her ear.

Something like _that_, Sheena cringed and expertly reversed on him with an acrobat's grace, leaving her victim whimpering pathetically.

Zelos did not meet her with resistance, his own ear stung and was currently held hostage, pinched and twisted threateningly between Sheena's fingers. "Ah-ah, easy, _eeeasy_," he whined and prolonged the sound as loudly as he dared. Canting his head to the side as he tried to lessen the pain in the earlobe she had in her grip. The eye closest to the afflicted area held shut and watered in an attempt to lesson her wrath with mercy. "Ok, ok, you win, you_ win_!"

Sheena smirked, it was a technique she had executed multiple times throughout the journey, and it had turned out to be a relatively easy way to subdue him. It was even kind of amusing, though it was mainly just an alternative to slapping him, it worked well at times like this, when keeping him quiet was key. "Good."

"Can I have my ear back now?" the man wondered, his strained eye risking a peek at her, hopeful.

This time Sheena gave a genuine smile. His rare show of child-like innocence really amazed and amused her at times, it even prompted actions that were often times looked back on as foolish and un-ninja-like, and she wondered if he experienced a similar impulse whenever an opportunity presented itself before him. Perhaps that was why he got into so much trouble.

A malevolent intent suddenly flashed over her face; It was time for some payback. After all, in a round about way, it was his fault she caught the blasted illness, so in her mind it was a simple reasoning: why not share it?

Any further reflection over the act was forever lost to contemplation. Before releasing her grip, she utilized her entitled speed and took it upon herself to grant him a short, and thoroughly unsuspecting kiss over his lips, then swept past him all as though gravity and time itself held no statute over her.

Zelos blinked as the final conclusion set in, how did _he _manage to get caught off guard? That would make the second time ever since the final battle. He was losing 2-to-1 now... He hoped he wasn't losing his touch.

He turned to see her retreating back towards her bed roll, she sent him a sidelong glance, revealing only half of her smug look. "Hey, hold on, I wasn't paying attention that time, replay!" His whispers were strained with excitement as he gave chase, causing Sheena to shush him multiple times before taking up their previous respective places near the fire. "At least tell me what I did right!"

Sheena refrained from scolding him this time, and instead, she simply smiled at him in reply from across the fire with a twisted amusement that was unknown to him. He was so clueless, and seemed to completely undermine the fact that she was sick. It never occurred to her though, that someone with a Cruxis crystal was about twice as unlikely to get sick. And, regardless of their seemingly dire circumstances at present, the ninja contentedly embraced sleep that night, under the watchful gaze of a certain guardian angel.

o-o-o

AN: Review please, and thanks for reading. Oh and don't forget to go see Verus on my DA account! He wants love too!


	11. Synchronicity

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ToS, then you'd be able to use Noishe in battle, nope, I own nothing. Got the chapter title from one of my favorite songs by Yui Makino and I highly recommend it.**

AN: Get ready for the longest chapter in this story! So grab a soda, some popcorn, and enjoy! Seriously, this thing is like... 6000 words and it's the second to last chapter, so there's a lot to wrap up. But don't worry, I have a sequel planned, so be happy!

**- Chapter Eleven - Synchronicity**

A week with their friends and the time had finally come where their paths split. The siblings had a bit of a longer trail ahead of them before reaching any structure, our trio on the other hand, consisting of wolf, ninja, and swordsman, were mere hours from a house of salvation.

Waving their farewells to the snow haired healer-warlock duo, Sheena and Zelos headed onward to their own destination. Genis and Raine motioned their own versions of the gesture but not before Verus had said his goodbyes, in the form of running headlong and tackling Genis, licking him in a desperation that implied they would be parted for life. When Genis assured him otherwise, the wolf backed down but whimpered sadly nonetheless as he returned to his master, leaving the half-elves to their way.

After arriving at the scarce source of civilization, both Sheena and Zelos noted all the changes that had taken place in the area, what had especially caught their attention was an unfamiliar building. It was larger than the once lone house and had been built right beside it. Now with an Inn with multiple rooms and accommodations, the house of salvation was now more like an average traveler's haven rather than a pilgrim's checkpoint. But such changes were taking place all over the world, thus it came with little surprise to the human pair as they stepped through the double doors of the Inn.

Travelers and mercenaries alike lingered around the entrance, talking amongst themselves, making traveling arrangements, and trading goods with the few merchants present.

Zelos had found a sudden interest in one group, casually joined the conversation, and began haggling with the salesman, leaving Sheena to make the rooming arrangements.

Shortly after sharing a greeting with the ninja, the Inn keeper stared down at the white creature at her side and frowned. "Sorry miss, no pets allowed inside." Whether Verus actually looked like a pet or not was irrelevant.

Sheena regarded her canine companion and shooed him off indifferently. He in turn licked her hand and obeyed, darting out of the building, and swerved around a passerby, who seemed dumbstruck by nearly walking into the oddly colored wolf.

After getting checked into the only remaining vacant room, Sheena mounted the stairs and entered their small quarters. She crossed to the window, passing and noting wryly the only bed in the room, of which she had been previously informed of by the Inn clerk. Oh well, Zelos would just have to sleep on the floor, of course, offering it up graciously being the gentleman that he was.

She chuckled at the thought and opened the window, leaning out and looking down to see Verus, already plotting his steps of infiltration. "Did you meet Pookie already?" Sheena asked him curiously, thinking up the first name that came to her mind from the times when Collete named the many dogs throughout the journey.

Verus whined incredulously in reply, almost glaring at the distance he would soon dismantle which separated him from his mistress.

"Oh... Spot, I should have known, wrong house of salvation right?"

Sheena received a bark of confirmation this time and her eyes followed the wolf's movements in a bored sort of interest as he leaped from some crates, to an overhang, and then to the window ledge, all with a rather reserved amount of effort as his nails clattered on the wood floor.

When Zelos entered the room a few moments later, after his little set back with a merchant, a sly scheme met his thoughts when he noticed the only bed in the room. His mind soon revolved on itself when his sight shifted to the wolf and then the smile was lost to a crumbling of spirits. "Aw come on! It's bad enough I have to sleep on the floor, but to be shown up by the mutt is just insulting!" he complained, all the while jabbing a finger at the animal in question. Verus, obviously ignoring the comments, was already making himself comfortable on the mattress.

"I think you're just mad because you thought you'd have a chance to get me alone for once," Sheena said, her tone level with accusation and her brown orbs slit with a knowledge far too wise towards his devices. "And at least he has the sense to behave himself."

"Hey, who says I wouldn't behave?" Zelos replied defensively, neatly evading her first comment and advancing on her casually.

Sheena tipped her head and smirked complacently, one word would stop him in his tracks. "Verus." The wolf looked up at attention in an instant, his tail wagging in expectation.

Zelos' movements froze mid step, his eyes darting between the beast and its master. "N-now Sheena, let's be civil about this-"

"Play time!" At Sheena's command, Verus was off the bed and on the man in a matter of seconds.

Zelos let out a horrid scream and a confounding thud as he hit the floor. Downstairs the Inn keeper glanced upward but promptly turned back to his bookkeeping with a shake of his head and a sigh. He'd learned not to ask questions when it came to his customers, if he happened to check the rooms the next day and found a dead body, then so be it, but he wasn't going to worry himself over the matter until the time came. Everyone else muttered amongst themselves shortly before returning to their former conversations.

Sheena's laughter indicated that, although it really was a cruel trick, it was fun, and the man's pathetic wails were an amusement that nearly brought her eyes to tear.

As Zelos composed himself in a grumbling, dispatching the dust of his clothes, he shook his fist at the wolf. After making some sort of an empty threat he sighed in defeat a moment later, and found himself patting their furry companion on the head as though forgiven.

Whether it was nighttime yet or not, the weary threesome made for bed shortly after a quick meal. They were both eager to get some uninterrupted sleep. After Kuchinawa's threat they had installed a strict rotating night shift, and although having Raine and Genis to help out in this, it was still an annoyance to be woken up and forced to be alert for two hours every night.

"We finally find a place to stay and I have to sleep on the floor, while the dog gets the royal treatment!" Zelos whined, laying out his bedding on the cold, hard surface.

"He's not a dog," came Sheena's correction from the bed, the humor in her voice ever present.

"Oh, my mistake, I meant demon," he grumbled again as he loosely fought with his blankets and absently tried to decide if the earth was softer than this infernal wood flooring.

No matter which way one chose to look at it, there just _had_ to be something entirely _wrong_ with this picture.

* * *

That animal was in his way, he needed to get rid of him, if nothing more than a few minutes. Zelos sat on the grass, his head leaning on his fist in contemplation as he watched Sheena, munching on a sandwich as she worked on yet another report to the king, every now and again she would throw a tidbit to Verus, who lay lazily beside her.

The problem wasn't just the fact that Verus tortured him with affection, affection that a person like Zelos was simply not quite keen on, but rather, he couldn't seem to think clearly when Verus was nearby. It almost seemed like he had an audience, not that one would normally consider a wolf's thoughts on a matter important, but this wasn't your average wolf, and Zelos was thoroughly suspicious that the domesticated monster could understand the human language, and not just a few words, but as a whole, _really_ did comprehend it.

Once again on the open field and far away from any civilization, Zelos glanced upward and noted that a few white clouds accompanied the clear blue above with hints of a sunset on the horizon. Numerous birds in the trees nearby twittered their monotonous background music; a constant reminder that there was no danger in the woodland. Even now Zelos knew he had to be alert to an attack, and once night fell he would need to be especially alert, but that was later, and hardly something he was concerned with at present.

A good distance was stretched out between the traveling companions, but only so much that one or the other would need to speak in a slightly higher voice than normal to be understood. It was a bit of an odd development for the pair, but Zelos needed time to think, and Sheena needed her peace and quiet to write her report.

Zelos weighed his options and gave some serious thought on what he had to work with. He wasn't entirely sure how he was even meant to proceed at this point. The situation at hand was a strange one, and right after the worlds had been reunited, he never would have pictured the way events had played out up until now. But then, for the former Chosen of what was once Tethe'alla, when were things ever...not complicated?

Zelos looked back to the beast who was still reclined on his side, leisurely watching the grass bend with the breeze. A familiar bug hopped within inches of the wolf's nose and he immediately pawed at it, though now, the insect was able to pass between his large claw digits. Unrelenting though, Verus cupped the grasshopper with his other paw, and so on and so forth until pretty soon, Verus seemed to be crawling as though he had reinvented the old game.

As Zelos watched the wolf's new movements, he wondered if there was a way to make this work in his favor, and thinking back on one his very own sayings, he smirked with a plot already in the works. "_If he's useful, make use of him."_

"Oy, runt, c'mere," he called, and Verus sat up, forgetting his prey at the sound of attention, with Sheena barely sparing either of them a glance as she concentrated on her work.

After Verus had bounded over curiously, Zelos bent low and pinned a look of suspicion on the wolf. "Ok bud, one whine for yes, two for no. Got it?"

Verus quirked his head oddly for a moment and whined once in recognition.

Zelos scrutinized the beast, deciding to test the new form of communication. "Are you the one stealing food out of my pack lately?"

An automatic chain of two defensive yelps was his answer, and Zelos ended his scrutiny, nodding with approval. "Fine, then listen up, this is what I want you to do..."

Sheena was unaware of the pair's conspiring,(or even the fact that they were capable of such a thing) and that was putting it lightly; when it came to any sort of penmanship, she may as well have been in another world.

"...And if it works out, then you get a big steak tonight. Deal?" Zelos held out his hand which was promptly clapped by a bluish forepaw as Verus added an affirmative bark. The man nodded and stood. "Go on then." He waved him away and Verus obeyed, padding off and went to lay down in his spot indicated with what was key in the plan ahead.

After prepping himself with a deep breath and a silent pep talk, Zelos made his way to the dark haired summoner.

"Hey Sheena, got a minute?"

Turning away from her work in a bit of frustration, Sheena blinked her dark eyes, eyes that were still focused on the sheet of paper even though they were aimed up at the man. "Yeah... I guess," she said finally, after taking into account his request and his hopeful expression. "But only if you help me with this introduction later, I have everything else, I just can't get the formality right."

"Of course!" Zelos agreed and lowered himself to sit next to her, while Sheena gratefully set her work aside. "But is this my favorite banshee? And is she actually asking for my help?"

"You better get started, I'm losing interest fast," she replied, giving him a dirty look and crossing her arms impatiently.

"Tsk, always so quick to anger hunny?" The redhead smirked and Sheena growled in annoyance without a reply as Zelos began. "So I've been wondering for awhile now. Have you picked out any candidates for Igaguri's request?" He tried to sound like a third party to the situation, as though he would be completely unaffected by the outcome, but whether it worked out that way or not, remained to be seen.

Sheena's lips curved wryly. She wondered why he hadn't brought this subject up yet. It was strange to her, but Zelos hadn't mentioned it once ever since she told him about her predicament. And now, he finally wanted to talk about it when things were so obvious between them that Sheena didn't know why they were even bothering with mincing their words. "Maybe," she answered with a clever tip of her head, deciding to play along for now.

"Mm-hm... And is there any chance of me being one of them?" he asked, almost distantly as he leaned back to get a better look at the sunset, now a red-orange blaze over the mountains.

Well that was kind of forward, she hadn't expecting him to take this silly game of wit to a personal level that quickly. And then suddenly it occurred to her that he must have just been joking around from the beginning. Lately he had been using that odd habit of trying to distract her whenever she was concentrating on something too much, because heaven forbid she should ever take _anything_ more seriously than he did.

After her moment of bewilderment, Sheena had managed to recover and threw him a devious smirk. "I suppose, anything is possible..."

Zelos returned her expression and replaced his eyes to the sky as though admiring a particular cloud that oddly resembled Verus, making his features twitch as he spoke. "Even for a stupid Chosen like me?"

Why did he even have to ask? After all they had been through lately, she merely assumed her decision was an unspoken knowledge. "Yes, even for a stupid Chosen like _you_," she confirmed, shoving him lightly in something of mock indignation.

"That's my banshee, hostile even when amused."

Sheena ignored anymore remarks that followed, instead she now had to sort out a proper reply. When exactly did this banter of theirs turn into an awry deliberation? She had to keep reminding herself that this was the man that had long since mastered the art of hiding a serious conversation behind a jest.

Was he trying to address the complicated circumstances that she was bound to? Trying to comply with them even? Upon closer inspection of his relaxed though steady gaze, Sheena's suspicions crystallized, and it was a long moment before she decided to speak again. "So, is this... your odd way of proposing to me or something?"

"Or something," Zelos repeated in answer, as a new smile seemed to come to life on his face. "Igaguri seemed to think so." The sudden tangent in their conversation immediately causing Sheena to question it. "Your grandfather," he said once more. "He had this crazy idea that I was one of your choices."

"Crazy?" Sheena nearly growled. "What exactly makes it so crazy, aside from the fact that you're involved?" It was an honest question, but while she was still putting the pieces together, Zelos signaled with a wave of his hand to Verus and the wolf immediately came running.

"Ouch... Yep, that did it. Verus she finally killed me," Zelos announced and, though the act was delayed, he dropped to lay on his back in a dead state as he had done numerous times in the past.

The wolf regarded him oddly but thought it better to concentrate on his mission, nearly head butting Sheena's middle in order to get her attention..

Sheena too, seemed entertained by the man's folly but quickly averted her attention to her large pet. "Verus, what do you have?" She tried to get a look at what he had in his mouth but with the way he was thrusting it out for her to take, she couldn't get a good view of it.

"Maybe you should take it from him and find out," Zelos chirped cheerfully with a grin, though cleverly keeping his eyes closed.

"Quiet _you_. You're dead, remember?" She sent him a warning of a side glance only to notice he wasn't even watching.

"Touché," was his only retort and he never lost the amusement on his face as he lay there. Even the grass, weaving itself in and through his hair did little to annoy him as it normally would have.

After verifying that the swordsman wasn't about to try anything, she once again reversed her full attention back to Verus. This time the wolf simply dropped the parcel into the ninja's lap, and sat down in front of her, his tail wagging pleasantly. Sheena stared at the small velvet pouch for a time, first thinking that it was some sort of round, fuzzy bug that Verus thought she should examine for whatever reason, and upon picking it up she could feel at least _one_ of Zelos' eyes on her.

Obviously at a loss for what to say or expect, Sheena attentively untied the string of the pouch as Zelos sat up to watch her pull the contents out by a chain, revealing a silver necklace of a simple design. The pendant, shaped like a rose, was accompanied by a leaf on either side and held together by a black satin sting.

"Now I'm proposing," Zelos said with a soft expression that did well in shading his anxiety. Inside he was a chaotic mess of nerves, doing everything possible to make the situation seem less climactic in order to keep himself from fainting. To think, the great Zelos, fainting, because of a woman. As the world knew it, that outcome was only meant to happen in reverse, but that just went to show how much authority Sheena had, over both man and spirit, and beast in the case of Verus.

Perhaps the root of his uneasiness was that they had yet to speak on the matter and what it ultimately meant, so he had little insight as to what she was thinking. Thus he knew it wasn't the necklace itself that brought on her silence, because although she spent a long time staring at the object, he was confident in the fact that he knew she wouldn't have wanted something expensive; Sheena just wasn't that kind of woman. And although he would have liked to spend a fortune on this occasion, he also knew she cared little about his wealth, and more on his consideration. Besides, she had all the pact rings, what was a fancy, high class jewel compared to all of those?

Sheena was still a bit stunned by the event, though she wished she could just say she was only mulling it over, but she would have to admit that she had been caught with her guard down by the way he had maneuvered everything. Using Verus like that, what a dirty trick, he didn't even do it right, what ever happened to the kneeling and all of the chivalry?

"And now it's your turn..," Zelos drawled, leaning forward and essentially forcing eye contact.

Sheena smiled, holding back her laughter. He looked like he was about to collapse if her inevitable answer was delayed any longer. Well, since he didn't bother with the usual proceedings of a proposal then she didn't feel obligated to answer him right away. "It's nice, but... why a necklace?"

Zelos gave a half whimper in a ruined expectancy, but promptly caught on to her scheme and came back with an equal gibe. "Well, I figured you were sick of rings, besides, I need _something_ to distract me from-"

"That just sounds like an excuse to stare!" Sheena growled, indignant by the insinuation.

"Caught," Zelos admitted with his trademark sheepish grin in an attempt to appeal a truce and keep her on track. "So, will the princess have me, or not?"

"Zelos, I'm not a princess," Sheena denounced with a sigh, still in a daze of sorts as she stared down at the symbol in her hands. There wasn't anything especially distinct about it, the surprise of the matter is what held her mind captive, albeit keeping him waiting was turning out to be quite the entertaining distraction.

"Sure you are. You're the princess of the world of Zelos Wilder!" he exclaimed, hardly believing that she could have forgotten such an important thing.

Sheena gave him that curious, _are you joking?_ tilt of her head but chose not to reply, and instead took a seriousness to mind as she couldn't help but wonder: "_What would this change? This still isn't going to solve our problem with Kuchinawa."_

And with yet another lapse of silence from her, Zelos could tell she wasn't listening again, and that she was dwelling on more dire factors with the way her eyebrows edged downward. "Take your time," he said gently, though the sarcastic twist in his tone overlapped his intent as he was desperately trying to show his patience. He knew it wasn't working out too well when Sheena leaned against his shoulder. "Seriously Sheena? You're killin' me here."

Sheena chuckled and moved so she could clearly scrutinize him pointedly. "Ok fine, I accept. But just so we're clear, this marriage is going to be more about our duty to Mizuho rather than how much time we spend in bed."

It was hardly a second later that Sheena actually realized what she had just agreed to. Spending the rest of her life with Zelos Wilder? It was a question that had been in the back of her mind for awhile, but she had refused to examine the thought until now, as she continued to stare at the jewel in her hands. If someone would have asked her opinion about this situation during the world regeneration, she would have laughed outright, smacked the person after realizing they were serious, and made some sort of angry denial before huffing away.

An insidious grin was all she needed to see from him to know that the requirement would be agreed upon, but most likely not upheld. "Whatever you say hun."

* * *

As twilight fell upon the land the splash of colors disappeared from the edge of the mountains, the birds among the forest steadily declined their sounds, and an ominous wind unsettled the new leaves throughout the arms of the woodland.

Among the darkness provided by the shroud of trees, a pair of eyes set and narrowed with contempt in the direction of the two human figures on the forest's border. The red clad outcast scoffed and unclipped the weapon compartment at his side, soon after withdrawing a select few projectiles. His target's location didn't matter, nor did it matter how they maneuvered their night watch, he had already been presented with multiple opportunities to strike, just like right now.

As he waited patiently for his moment to attack, he watched, concentrating on their relaxed, though oddly erratic movements and tried to read them. He never could tell when one would move closer, jump away, start shouting, duck out of the way, or most the time in the man's case, get shoved a foot or two. It puzzled him, and he honestly couldn't understand why they continued putting up with each other when they constantly seemed at odds with one another.

It didn't matter anymore anyway, he'd soon put an end to their bickering, their disreputable flirting, and whatever else it was they thought they were doing. With three metal blades stationed between his fingers, Kuchinawa focused a fire seal on them and zeroed in on his red haired target. This time, it was going to leave more than a simple outer wound.

His offensive arm retracted, poised for the assault, his stance shifted and he was about to release the throwing stars to their deadly purpose. The attempt at the former Chosen's life was halted only by a matter of a second's leeway as the assassin staggered with a jolt of awareness, striking him in that instant. He leaped away as his own antagonist landed on the same branch with a dangerous proximity, brought with a speed only matched by his stealth as he swiped out with an empty fist, which served more as an interruption than an actual challenge.

Kuchinawa scowled at his fellow ninja, which was soon replaced with a frown upon realization of who it really was that stood before him. "Why have you come here?" Now he sneered at his counterpart. "Aren't you suppose to be baby sitting the village?"

Orochi stood from his offensive crouch, but his arms remained at the ready. "I'm looking into something," he said, his eyes lingered on the shuriken in his brother's grasp, then glanced over Zelos and Sheena's whereabouts; they were completely unaware of the disruption. "_Tsk, I'll need to speak with her about that,"_ he thought offhandedly and quickly swept his focus to Kuchinawa. "And it seems I was just in time to stop you from doing something you might regret."

The blood clothed ninja nearly laughed, following his sibling's gaze and back again. "No, I assure you, regret has nothing to do with this."

"Then is this some sort of attempt to make an exchange Brother? Her loss for your own?" Now he let his arms slide comfortably over his chest, his head at a curious though placid tilt.

"It was your loss too! Or have you forgotten?" Due to the need for stealth, Kuchinawa did not raise his voice, albeit the anger in his tone made up for it.

"I think you just answered my question."

"Maybe it is, but my main objective is altogether different. That man isn't worthy to be the chief's consort, surely _you_ would be more worthy of that title."

"You've deemed him thus on your own then?" Orochi question warily, choosing to ignore his brother's other comment for the time being.

"My opinions are irrelevant. This is a direct violation of our customs!" Kuchinawa growled, throwing his fist to the side and pitching the shuriken to crash harmlessly into the soft forest floor, outwardly displaying the anger with which a ninja should not be unevenly yoked.

"I think you are the only one concerned over this, and as a criminal, you are hardly in a position to be speaking of customs," Orochi replied, his voice composed but doing little to dilute the severity of his words.

Kuchinawa was at a loss for a reply this time, leaving the blue garbed ninja to continue. "The former Chosen already comes and goes as he pleases in the village, and ever since Tiga stepped down from his position as vice-chief there have been no debates on the matter, Igaguri too, has not yet shown any hostility towards him."

"...And, how is the late chief doing?" Kuchinawa wanted to know, his concern genuine as a deep reserve of loyalty became apparent in his eyes, and his body eased of most the tension created by the situation. "When I heard Sheena had been officially named chief I wondered if Igaguri stepped down because of his age or-"

"Few are aware of it," Orochi cut in with a curt pause. "But the elder is ill, what's more he's requested Sheena to take a husband a year earlier then what's expected of her."

After a pause of reflection, Kuchinawa shifted his gaze from the couple, now outlined by the light of a campfire, and back to the man in front of him, the man he had grown up with. "Brother, this is a classified arrangement, only those involved are meant to-"

"-Know of it? You're right. I was chosen by Igaguri not long ago." Orochi sighed gravely and backed up to lean against the tree trunk, leaving his sibling to stand on the slim part of the limb. "However, I have no interest in involving myself in this. If the time comes, I will decline the former chief's request and accept my punishment, because I do not fear his distress on the matter as Sheena does. What matters is the _future_ of Mizuho, not the past."

"But he will not take any of his responsibilities seriously, he is not qualified, not like you, when you already take on the burden in Sheena's absence."

"That's not so, I believe he will help Sheena lead the village through a prosperous age. Besides, what good would that serve if I took the position? You said it yourself that I take command when she needs me to, and yet that does not ease her despair." Sighing in a troublesome manner, Orochi withdrew his katana and readied his shuriken pouch. "But if you can't see how much good Zelos has done already, then there is little more for us to discuss like this."

"Sheath your weapons Brother, I will not fight you." Kuchinawa stepped back, scowling at the very thought. "Regardless of my exile, I am still loyal to Mizuho, and I will continue to watch over it from time to time."

Orochi gave a slight bow of his head as his eyes blinked in a calm agreement. "My hope is that your loyalty will someday bring you back to us."

"I might think about it once I start to get lonely, but for now I kind of enjoy this solo life," Kuchinawa said through a smirk as he turned to leave. "Give my regards to Sheena then, and you can tell her that I'll no longer stalk her precious _idiot_." He scrutinized the ground, nearly gaging on his words as he prepared for his departing leap. "I was blind to her pain, I'll admit to that. And after all she's been through, including all the trouble I've caused, I suppose she deserves some sort of obedience, even from an exile like me."

"There just might be hope for you yet."

And without a reply, Kuchinawa was gone, leaving Orochi to turn his full attention to his chief and her companions as they moved about their camp on the outskirts of the forest. The remaining male ninja sighed and shook his head in defeat. "I guess my other mission will just have to wait until morning." He sighed once more. "What a pain."

* * *

Zelos had indeed noticed the unnerving silence that quaked the woods after nightfall, and the possibility of an attack never left his mind. With the chirping sounds of safety absent came the dread of darkness, but whether that was because a real threat had spooked the birds away or simply because it was time for the noisy creatures to sleep, there was no way to know. Regardless, he had been alert to the whistle capable of rending through flesh, and muscle, and... heart. He absently touched his chest, running his fingers over the area of said organ, only to feel Sheena's hair brush against his fingers.

He almost forgot Sheena had fallen asleep in the circle of his arm. "_Stupid Zelos, get a hold of yourself man! Multitasking four or five things used to be easy! Keeping track of two different things like this should be cake!"_ But her body was so warm on his shoulder, and her soft rhythmical breathing dared to lull him to sleep with the morning prospect of blaming their sleeping arrangements on the summon spirit of sleep. Of course, he'd need to think up a spiffy name to go with it but- "_No._" He shook his head in hopes for some clarity. "_No, I gotta stay awake, It just wouldn't do to die in my sleep-"_ after severing his thoughts, Sheena's voice almost startled him enough to flinch.

"We'll need to somehow get in touch with the others," Sheena said and yawned, shifting her head and unsure of what had woken her. "I'm sure _none_ of them will want to miss seeing this wedding for themselves."

"_Aw, darn, she woke up!"_ he mentally whined and frowned when he forgot he was supposed to be listening _and _paying attention to her words. "Er, yeah, of course." He hoped that would suffice as a proper response... Speaking of proper sentence structures...They never did get to that report to the king. He glanced at the unfinished sheet of paper and cringed. "_Oh well, that should give her something to yell at me about in the morning." _

Sheena went on as though she hadn't noticed his lack of attention. "Regal and Presea will both most likely want to come to make sure it wasn't just another rumor floating around..." She pinned him with a glare; there had been many rumors and she didn't think she needed to elaborate when she seen his innocent smile. "Collete is probably still her klutzy self, and I bet Lloyd will enjoy all the food."

"About that," Zelos put in, unperceptive to the act of twisting a lock of coal around his finger. "Jealousy is an ugly beast, and I'd like to say I never let it win, but I have to admit, back during your Lloyd phase-"

"Zelos," she grumbled, annoyed with the memory brought by his insinuation as she righted herself to sit parallel with him. "If you remember right, Lloyd wasn't the one I decided to kiss in the middle of the most important battle of our time."

"Good point," he agreed with a smile, and that was really the only confirmation he needed on the matter. "I like that reasoning. By the way, when can I put in another order for that?"

"For what?" Sheena blinked in her confusion, it was dark, she was tired, and she was no longer able to keep up with his constant rotation of remarks.

"Come closer and I'll show you." His suggestive tone was matched only by the mischievous glint in his eyes.

With narrowed eyes, Sheena opened her mouth, about to roll out a long chain of retorts when Zelos was suddenly yanked by a jerky force in short tugs on his outfit, Verus' jaws firmly clamped onto it.

"Aw come on, can't you wait five more minutes? Go chase your tail or something?" Zelos got his answer when Verus stopped tugging and started howling, coupled with a bit of growling as he pawed at the swordsman's arm. Whether it was playful or downright serious for the wolf's part of the bargain, Zelos didn't rightly care for his clothing to be ripped in order to find out. "Alright, alright!" he yelled, moving to his feet as Verus pulled on his sleeve. "Sheesh, you ask for a favor these days and this is what you have to deal with!"

Sheena laughed, running a finger over the cold digits of the necklace in her hands and halfheartedly thinking on the obstacles and trials that would soon unfold, though she knew that any further thoughts on the matter would bring about a single handed symposium of worry and cheering up from Zelos. Well, that was hardly an option, since he was already accomplishing that as he went on grumbling while Verus helped him with the procedure of cooking the prized steak.

The sounds of laughter and bickering remained for a long time, and after feeling the effects of the atmosphere set by the former Chosen of mana, the ninja from Mizuho dwelt on neither the future nor the past that night.

o-o-o

AN: Hope it didn't bore you! I know, it was uber long, but I couldn't find a spot to separate it. Anyway, review if you made it through the whole thing! (laugh)


	12. Angel

**- Fighting for Acceptance -**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ToS I would know how to write and draw like a pro! Seeing as I'm not a pro, I own nothing.**

AN: So you know how ch11 was twice as long as normal? Well this chap is twice as short, but I still think you guys are going to like it. Also, I know most of you are going to see a lot of this coming, and I'm not trying to surprise anyone with this chapter, but I know for a fact it is going to put a smile on your face, so without further ado... Enjoy!

**- Final Chapter - Angel**

A lone male wolf, full grown and in his prime, stood up from his sitting position atop a grassy hill. His thick fur unsettled by the wind as he stood there, motionless except for his ears, which seemed to be still for the most part, but every now and again would twitch and quirk forward in concentration. He would have been the perfect candidate for a portrait if he hadn't bolted down the expanse of the hill at that exact moment.

After trotting down the hill, the wolf found his young charge, a human cub in his mind, crawling after a butterfly. Taking the scruff of the child's outfit into his careful jaws, the wolf's eyes passed on from the colorful winged creature that, a number of years ago, would have held his attention for long moments, but now, he leaped into a honed gallop.

As the white pelt flashed over the rolling green plain in a white blur, laughter and pleasant noises could be heard from his passenger as the ride was obviously nothing new to the child.

Nearing an outlaying of trees, his soft taupe ears twitched at the sounds of a scuffle and he knew he was closing in on his destination.

It was midday, few clouds hindered the blue sky beyond and the sun cast a healing warmth over the temperate breeze.

Further down a grassy incline, he could soon see his two masters sparring, the one dressed in blue leaped and flipped over her opponent, sending her opponent staggering into a skid before another lunge.

The curiously marked wolf laid down from the safe distance he had stood, the baby sat between his protective forepaws, giggling and touching his furry face and snout.

The masters, also the baby's parents, had yet to notice the appearance of the wolf and their child. They were intimately focused on their training session, something the wolf had been well aware of and had refrained from running up to them with the child in his care.

Moments later, the man dropped to his seat on the ground. There he sat, panting with perspiration, bested, even by his wife without the help of his cruxis crystal, though he couldn't really complain much about that since she also no longer utilized her exphere. "I give up! I-I'm done," he croaked, falling backward with an exhausted breath. "Sheena, hunny, when will you learn to go easy on me?"

Sheena's breathing was short as well, though not quite so labored as she continued standing, hands on hips. Her former blue ninja outfit was present with her as she regarded the swordsman with a disapproving sigh and a shake of the head. "This is exactly why our last run in with bandits went so bad! You're pathetic."

Zelos was about to sit up and defend himself of the verbal attack but a child was soon deposited unto his stomach by way of Verus, whom immediately moved to sit down at Sheena's side, rubbing up against her affectionately, all in one clean sweep of motions.

"Angel!" Zelos greeted his daughter happily as he held her up in front of him before setting her down in his lap and grumbled into her ear as he shot a side glare to his wife. "You know your mama beat me up again."

The girl giggled, sputtered some sort of gibberish reply, and patted his cheek encouragingly, as though she understood and had found amusement in his words. "Yeah, that's my girl, daddy needs lots of love."

It was easy, actually it was routine, for the ninja to ignore her husband's mutterings and she smiled at the sound of the child's laughter as she looked down to Verus, he sat at her side watching the scenery as his mistress absently stroked his head. "Did she behave for you today Verus?" she asked, but not in the way one does not expect an answer, no, she spoke to the wolf as though he was perfectly capable of answering.

And answer he did, tipping his head thoughtfully, he went to the child in question and licked her face, provoking another wave of laughter from her as she reached for him. Afterwards something apparently caught his attention and he moved on, running at full speed into the forest nearby, leaving the child to the care of her parents.

"Be sure to bring something home for dinner bud!" Zelos called after the white beast, and received a howl of acknowledgment in return. The little girl in his lap scrambled around in order to wave her own farewell to the wolf, attempting to mimic her father's words, failing miserably in coherence but succeeding brilliantly in nearly bringing the grown man to tears.

When heading back to their accustomed home-away-from-home, the threesome kept a wavering pace, while Sheena urged a steady one, Zelos dawdled casually, cooing nonsense to his daughter in his arms.

Sheena rolled her eyes at the sight, but smiled nonetheless when Zelos perched the girl on his shoulders.

"Sip, sip!" she cried excitedly and in response Zelos looked to his wife, expectant.

"Hey hun, the angel wants to see Sylph."

Sheena groaned in annoyance, bringing a hand up to cover her eyes with a sigh. "Zelos, you know I shouldn't summon any of them unless there's good reason for it, it's a waste of mana."

Zelos grew indignant at that and shifted the girl back into his arms and held her outward towards his wife. "You call _this_ a waste of mana!?" he cried, and the child gurgled something or other as she reached out for her mother's face. "Those are fightin' words!"

Sheena's expression softened and she immediately moved to encase her daughter in her arms, only to have the child yanked away before having the chance to do so. "Ah-ah! What do we say?" Zelos taunted with a wag of his finger, holding the girl hostage until they both got what they wanted.

Sheena's fists shook with agitation but she soon stepped into the proper stance. "Fine," she growled as the green summoning circle appeared beneath her. "I call upon the heavenly messengers, I summon thee, come Sylph!"

The baby girl bounced and clapped her hands happily as Zelos nosed her cheek affectionately. They were a good team, those two, and they always seemed to get their way.

The three winging spirits circled and floated around the child, speaking in their high pitched voices which only served to implode elated squeals from her.

Sheena crossed her arms and smiled at the scene as Zelos had found the baby girl's laughter contagious. Yes, she smiled, because, although her job would never be done so long as true peace was forever out of reach, Sheena Fujibayashi no longer concerned herself with what would be, even though the world continued fighting about what was.

Because somewhere, a hybrid being was denied privileges that were rightly due any living creature.

Somewhere, there were heated arguments and rash hostilities between opposing sides of the same species, which were only divided by ideals, a thing intangible and invisible to the senses.

Somewhere, a child cried out for its parents, abandoned by their untimely death.

Somewhere, a misunderstanding was made and a judgment of an unworthy force was passed.

Somewhere else, a tree clung on desperately for survival, nourished only by a certain few, and threatened to whither at any given moment.

But right here, in the brilliant sunlight, there was a father laughing contently with his daughter.

Right here, peace seemed forever present and unquestioned.

Right here, a breeze carried the sound of an honest bliss, one that would not forsake its listeners.

Right here, was the light of kindness and love, brought forth out of the darkness of tyranny and hate, its purpose, to spread outward and guide the counterpart of which it had been made to conquer.

And finally, right here, a hope was sustained, one that would stand out and would remain, for a length unknown.

_Fin_

o-o-o_  
_

AN: Hope you liked it. I have another pic of Verus up on DeviantART for you guys to see. Go to my profile to get the link to my DA account.


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